Reunion: An Ultimate Sonic Meets Star Wars Story
by JerichoRaccoon941
Summary: In the Aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters must work fast to try and save their allies while evading the Empire's wrath.
1. Chapter 1: Recuperation

**A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….**

 **Reunion: An Ultimate Sonic Meets Star Wars Story**

 **Chapter 01: Recuperation**

Exiting hyperspace above Mobius, Dr. Robotnik and Snively piloted their battered gunship towards the planet's surface, ignoring the Imperial fleet in orbit.

"Sir, shouldn't we at least switch vessels and check the construction of planetary defenses-"

"SNIVELY! You do not want to infuriate me any further…or you will see what color my heart is…," said Robotnik.

"Um…yes, sir…but I fear we may not have quite a smooth landing…we may lose control on reentry…,"

"It doesn't matter! We'll be fine, Snively!"

Their gunship flew straight past the line of Star Destroyers, and the ship begun to be engulfed in flames as it reentered the atmosphere.

"We're losing navigation controls! We're way off course, sir!"

"Where does that place us, Snively?"

"Down on the continent of Soumerca, sir!"

"Good! Transmit a distress signal, and prepare for impact!"

Snively begun working his console to broadcast a distress call, as the ship rocked violently from the reentry, the noise of alarms piercing their ears, as Robotnik worked to keep the ship under control in their rapid descent. Soon, they cleared the clouds as a line of thick jungles came into view. Soon, their gunship begun clipping and eventually smashing through the branches of the many trees, and the ship begun to list hard in both directions as it came crashing through, smashing head-on into the ground below, Robotnik and Snively could only brace as the ship plowed through the ground, before coming to rest at the edge of a stream. The two slowly looked up and begun catching their breath, but Robotnik wasted little time smashing open the hatch with his bionic arm, frightening Snively in the process.

"Um, how long are we going to have to wait in this…disgusting swamp, sir?"

"Not long, Snively. I expect pickup will be…about…. now."

Snively raised his eyebrow, but soon saw several patrol gunships and hover pods racing towards their position.

"You could set your chronometer to the response times of our Soumerca operation, Snively."

"Y-yes, sir, of course, sir."

The gunships flew in, with one of them coming in for a landing in the nearby clearing, as Robotnik and Snively walked towards it. Exiting the gunship was several SWAT Bots, accompanied by a diminutive Mobian chinchilla.

"Lord Robotnik, sir! So wonderful that you're home safe and sound! When we-"

"I am not in the mood for pleasantry, Thunderbolt! I order you to take me back to Robotropolis, immediately!"

"At once, My lord! By your command," said Thunderbolt.

"And Snively, send out an emergency summons to all my Chapter Bosses! I want them in Robotropolis by the time I arrive! NOW!"

"At once, Dr. Robotnik," said Snively.

Robotnik then sat in his seat, still seething with fury as the gunship took off, and flew straight to Robotropolis without delay.

 _Main Rebel Base, Yavin IV_

Inside the Rebels' base, Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn were sitting outside a conference room.

"Sonic, will you quit that pacing and sit down?"

"How am I supposed to sit at a time like this, Sal? We've been waiting forever!"

"I'm the politician here, Sonic. Your version of politics is 'my way or the wrong way, and it's the fastest one!'"

"Yet why did they call us here?! I could've been practicing my skills in the simulators or do another two hundred and fifty kilometer long run to keep me busy!"

"Whenever important leaders summon you, it's always for an important reason."

"So, they force us to sit out here for an hour?"

"Sonic, it's only been fifteen minutes."

"Well, to me, it feels like an hour or more."

Sonic crossed his arms and started tapping his foot.

"Well, show a little patience."

"Hey hey hey! Patients are for hospitals, Sal! We got the Empire breathing down Mobius' neck and friends counting on us, and that makes me itchy!"

Soon, the doors opened, as Commander Jericho Raccoon arrived.

"They're ready for you," he said.

"Finally," said Sonic.

"You certainly took your time," said Sally.

They walked inside the conference room, where Princess Leia Organa was talking with Milena Raccoon and another human female.

"Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn, may I introduce former Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila, and the leader of the Rebellion," said Jericho.

"Hello," said Sonic.

"Ma'am," said Sally.

"A pleasure to have you with us today, your highness, I had the privilege of knowing your father many years ago," said Mon Mothma.

"Really? I'm honored," said Sally.

"We were discussing the matter of your homeworld, Mobius," said Leia.

"Really?" said Sonic.

"And unfortunately, in our current state, we cannot spare resources to support open warfare on Mobius, much less liberation," said Mon Mothma.

"What?!" said Sally.

"Please tell me you're kidding!" said Sonic.

Leia simply shook her head.

"I'm afraid it's true, Sonic."

"Time for some tough love, kids. With the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire is gonna be going all out to try and take us out, and you two are naïve to think that we stand a chance at liberating Mobius," said Milena.

"She's right, you know," said Jericho.

"So, what do you expect us to do?! We can't abandon Mobius, it's our home," said Sonic.

"He's right, we've been fighting Robotnik's regime for ten years, ten years too long, and things are only getting worse,"

"Your angering of the Imperials in that sector have not helped matters, either," said Mon Mothma.

"Yeah, any chance we had at doing this clean was lost cause you had to stroke your ego in terms of blowing stuff up," said Jericho.

"Yeah, everything is my fault, isn't it?" said Sonic.

"Regardless, even if we can't liberate your planet, the least we can do is try to help your people any way we can. I'm sorry that we can't help your planet, but we can try to help your people. But what you're hoping for is beyond our capabilities," said Leia.

Sally just sighed.

"So right now, we gotta make do with the best of what we got, you and the others, and that may be more than enough," said Jericho.

"Can't we at least-"

"Were you not listening, you blue idiot? We can't liberate Mobius, even if we tried!" said Milena.

Jericho glared at her.

"Sorry, but I had to get my point across."

"She does have a point, Sonic. There's a bigger picture here, it's not just our people in trouble. Everyone whom the Empire oppresses is in trouble, now that we've hurt them real bad," said Jericho.

Sally took a breath and collected her composure.

"All right, that was a valid point. If we can't help our planet, there's got to be something we can do," said Sally.

"First and foremost, the Empire knows we're here now, and they're gonna throw everything they've got to try and destroy us," said Leia.

"Indeed, if we don't keep moving, then that battle would've been for nothing," said Mon Mothma.

"So, first, we're arranging some accommodations for you guys," said Jericho.

"What kind of accommodations?" said Sally

"I'll explain when we meet with the others in the hangar," said Jericho.

"In the meantime, Commander Raccoon, I want you to be the handler for these people, you're familiar with them, while you, Milena, continue serving as our contact,"

"Yes, ma'am," said Jericho.

"Absolutely," said Milena.

"Also, Commander, your ship was delivered a few hours ago, your team was able to make it off the planet safely. You will be meeting up with them upon arrival at your destination," said Mon Mothma.

"Excellent, glad to hear. It'll be good to be back aboard some familiar floor plating," said Jericho.

"You had a ship this whole time, Raccoon? Why didn't you tell us when the Empire invaded? We could've easily gotten outta there!" said Sonic.

"First of all, we were under attack, you idiot! Second, it was in the city when the attack happened. And before you say anything else: no."

"'No,' what?" said Sally.

"No, I am not letting you near the controls of my ship, Sonic. My ship is just as much a member of my team as my actual team members. As for you, again, I'll explain when we meet with your team," said Jericho.

"Also, Jericho, one more thing…," said Milena.

"What?" said Jericho.

"You'll be taking Ms. Nasler with you, Commander," said Mon Mothma.

"With all due respect, no,"

"That wasn't a request, Commander," said Leia.

"Her intelligence sources and her willingness to share them with us, including the one called 'X-File' will prove valuable," said Mon Mothma.

"Or she's working an angle. I still don't trust her, despite what she did," said Jericho.

"Then consider it an order. Is that understood?" said Mon Mothma.

Jericho rolled his eyes, and sighed.

"Yes, ma'am."

Sonic sniggered.

"So, what were you saying to 'no' to anyone going anywhere near the cockpit?" he said.

"I would rather shoot my own tail off than let you pilot my ship. But don't worry, we'll take good care of you. Let's go talk to your team and give them the tough news," said Jericho.

"Let me tell them. It's best it comes from me," said Sally.

"If that's what you wanna do," said Jericho.

Inside the barracks, the rest of the Freedom Fighters; Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Cream the Rabbit, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine D'Coolette, and Rotor Walrus were sitting anxiously.

"Oh, I am hoping zat we will not end up in anothair cell of holding…" said Anotine.

"Oh, relax, Antoine, we ain't endin' up in another holding cell, Antoine. We'll be long gone," said Bunnie.

"I just hope we get to go home soon," said Tails.

"Yeah, I wanna see if I can find my old tools from my old workshop! Who knows what the Empire is doing to them!" said Rotor.

"Will the Rebels really help us, Miss Amy?" said Cream.

"They have to, Cream. After all, we helped destroy the Death Star. But if history repeats itself, we may be grown up by the time we can save our home," said Amy.

Soon, the group saw Sonic, Sally, Jericho, and Milena approach.

"Took you guys long enough," said Knuckles.

"Well guys, we got good news and bad news," said Sonic.

"There's always bad news, is it?" said Knuckles.

"Bad news is, Mobius is out of our reach for the time being, the Alliance is stretched thin as it is," said Sally.

"What? Why?" said Knuckles.

"They owe us that much!" said Amy.

"Aw, come on!" said Tails.

"They do owe us, but unfortunately, their resources are just as limited as ours were back home," said Sally.

"Sacre bleu cheese! We are doomed!" said Antoine.

"Shut up, Antoine! We haven't failed!" said Knuckles.

"The good news is, the Alliance is going to help us help our friends, if we help them, of course," said Sally.

"Help them how?" said Rotor.

"We're gonna help them in their fight, and in return, they'll help us with ours," Sally said.

"First of all, we're going to set you guys up with some equipment, which is where we'll be going next, with the Empire closing in on this place, we need to move fast," said Jericho.

"We've already got a set-up in mind for you guys," said Milena.

"What kind of set-up?" said Sonic.

"Alliance has given me command of one of their cruisers to serve as our headquarters," said Jericho.

"Is that why Geoffrey ain't heah?" said Bunnie.

"Not at liberty to say."

Jericho then produced a holoprojector that displayed the image of the cruiser in question.

"The _Salvation_ , a _Marsheem_ -class heavy cruiser, currently stationed in the Outer Rim," said Jericho.

"Whoa!" said Rotor.

"That's amazing!" said Tails.

"She went by another name, last I saw her, but we named her after a frigate that we lost in battle. Not as powerful as the Mon Calamari cruisers that we've got, but she gets the job done," said Jericho.

"Well either way, this cruiser looks great! Can't wait to see it up close," said Rotor.

"Also, the Alliance is gonna provide you with your own vessel for ops," said Jericho.

"Wait, our own ship?" said Sonic.

"Yep, I'll show you," said Jericho.

The Freedom Fighters followed Jericho and Milena to the hangar bay, where Derek Alddelfor was waiting, with a smile on his face.

"You guys are gonna love this. It's quite a surprise," said Derek.

The group walked past some containers, where a very clean looking ship sat in a corner.

"This is a Corellian YT-2000 freighter," said Jericho.

"Whoa! You got this for us?" said Rotor.

"It looks almost like the _Millennium Falcon_! Only the cockpit is centered," said Tails.

"The YT-2000 is a newer model, though due to espionage concerns, there weren't that many built. We bought it off a dealer, said it was a tough one to sell. Alliance brought it here, but aside from a few flights, you'll be the first owners," said Milena.

"Dibs on the ship and the role of Captain!" said Sonic.

"Sonic!" said Sally.

"What? Should've called dibs before I did, Sal!" he said.

Sally simply facepalmed.

"Sonic, why do you always get the best toys? I should be the Captain!" said Knuckles.

"Too bad, Knucklehead, I called dibs," said Sonic.

"Armament is two quad guns, a side mounted, forward facing laser cannon, an ion cannon, and two warhead launchers," said Jericho.

"On second thought…. I call dibs on operating the guns!" said Knuckles.

"It's stock as it gets, so there's plenty of room for improvements," said Jericho.

"Excellent, imagine the things we're gonna do to it, right Tails?" said Rotor.

"You betcha, Rotor!" said Tails.

"So, Tails, wanna be first-mate?" said Sonic.

"Do I ever!" said Tails.

"Well, let's go check out the…. the… uhh…. we need a name for it," said Sonic.

"Yep. Bad luck to fly a ship with no name," said Jericho.

"You don't say, Jericho," said Derek.

"How about _Mobian Legacy_?" said Rotor.

" _Guardian's Wrath_?" said Knuckles.

"Or what about naming it after that speeder from back home, the _Tornado_?" said Tails.

"Yeah, that speeder worked great, only this one can reach the stars," said Sonic.

"Stars…. star…. I got it! The _Star Tornado_!" said Tails.

" _Star Tornado_ … _Star Tornado_ …. now that's perfect, bud!" said Sonic.

"Next time we get a new ship, I'm naming it," said Knuckles.

"Yeah, you can have the next one, Knucklehead," said Sonic.

"Stop calling me 'Knucklehead'!" said Knuckles.

"So, y'all pulled some strings to give us our own ship, what about yours, Jericho?" said Bunnie.

"Over there. She's a tough ranger," said Jericho.

Jericho led them just around the corner, where another freighter sat, with the visible signs of action on the hull.

"There she is, the _Storm Ranger_ ," said Jericho.

Dayton Raccoon was seen atop of it, making some minor repairs, and he waved, with Derek waving back.

"Beauty, isn't she?" said Derek.

"I'll stick to the _Star Tornado_ , thanks."

"Sonic, we haven't even flown it, yet," said Rotor.

"The _Ranger_ is a Gallofree Yards YKL-37R Nova Courier, issued to me about five years ago, brand new ship," said Jericho.

"Why does zat name sound familiar?" said Antoine.

"Old motto of the Royal Army Rangers back in the day, 'Stand Strong, Brave the Storm,'" said Jericho.

"And it smells like the barracks you guys live in," said Milena.

"It's our dreamboat, sis," said Jericho.

"I resent that comment, Ice Queen," said Derek.

"Is she ready, Dayton?" said Jericho.

"As she'll ever be, Logan overclocked the thrusters again," said Dayton.

"Again? I need to get my own ship," said Derek.

"Anyway, we leave first thing in the morning, we've arranged a rendezvous with the Salvation," said Jericho.

"Good, the sooner, the better!" said Sonic.

"In the meantime, Rotor and Tails, get yourselves familiar with the _Star Tornado_ , you're gonna need to be experts," said Sally.

"Already on it, Sally," said Rotor.

"I've built a computer out of junk parts, and reprogrammed a supercomputer with dishwashing detergent and a toothpick; so, getting familiar with a space freighter? That's about as hard as taking a nap," said Tails.

Soon, Seraphine appeared from nearby.

"Not bad. Your ship looks a bit rough around the edges, but looks like it'll get the job done," said Seraphine.

"Just when I was starting to enjoy some peace," said Jericho.

"Sorry about that, Jericho, but I think I'll stick around, since you did get a Chaos Emerald because of *my* intelligence…"

"Don't rub it in. I'll be watching you," said Jericho.

"Suit yourself, and besides, I'm not getting paid for this," said Seraphine.

"What?" said Jericho.

"Room and board for my family members," said Seraphine.

"Your family?" said Sally.

"Yeah, my brother and my sister, I don't keep separate from them for too long, and I know my little sister is going to nag my ears off if I don't show my face to her again," said Seraphine.

"Welcome to my nightmare," said Jericho.

"Hey!" said Milena.

Derek just sniggered.

Later that night, Sonic and Tails were sitting in their bunks, trying to sleep.

"This sucks, Sonic. I really thought something good was going to happen back home."

"Tell me about it. I feel so helpless right now."

"It feels like nothing is going right! We take one step forward and two more backwards!"

"I know the feeling, Tails. Maybe the Rebels can help us in the long run, we might be able to go home sooner than we think."

"I just wanna see some real progress here, Sonic."

"It may take time, but we will get home eventually, bud. All this means is we gotta start over from scratch. If we could do it back home, we can do it again."

Sonic then saw Sally walk past and decided to get up and check on her.

"Hey, Sal? Got a minute? You okay?"

"Oh, hey, Sonic. I was just thinking, the last week has been rough."

"Tell me about it. Lost our homes, got trapped on a giant space station, saved you, blew up the space station…"

"And now we're in exile, are you really okay with all this?"

"It's like everyone said when we got stranded on Tatooine, we've come back from worse. We lost our homes before, who says we won't get it back? Robotnik and the Empire won't last forever."

"I mean, back home, we were doing so well, only for…"

"Don't doubt yourself, Sal. Keep your chin up, who knows, maybe we'll finally make progress at stuff we didn't before."

"I hope you're right, Sonic. We survived this much."

"Hey, I'm always right!"

"Sometimes."


	2. Chapter 2: Looming

**Chapter 02: Looming**

 _Citadel Tower, Robotropolis, Mobius_

Inside the conference room at the Citadel tower, Dr. Robotnik wasted no time heading to the conference room, where his commanders, the Sub-Bosses had just barely sat down in their seats. Robotnik was almost to his seat when Sub-Boss Mordred Hood walked in, panting hard.

"Made it… barely made it," he said.

"Indeed, had you been late, I would've had you shot on the spot, not Roboticized, shot," said Robotnik.

"Y-yes, my lord…sorry," said Mordred Hood.

"I presume the purpose of this meeting revolves around the return of Imperial forces to our planet, sir?" said Akhlut.

"Yes, thanks to that trouble-making teenager and his little band, the Empire is no longer happy with our effort to bring order to this planet. I only recruited the lot of you because you were willing to cooperate, but mark my words, the Empire will not grant such…leeway unless you can prove you all are useful," said Robotnik.

"Oh yes, my lord! I will not fail in my efforts to quash the resistance!" Thunderbolt said.

"Good, because as of now, those Freedom Fighters are conspiring with the Rebellion to continue operations against us in the wake of the destruction of the Death Star, and I intend to give the Empire what they want; every rebel on this planet, their heads on a stake," said Robotnik.

"With very good pleasure, sir," said the Grand Battle Kukku.

"Isn't that what we've been trying to do for the last five years?" said the Bride of the Conquering Storm.

"This time, we have the full might of the Imperial military at our backs. If they found Knothole village as easily as they did, then surely, they can find the other holes where those rodents hide out and burn them to the ground," said Robotnik.

"Hey, as long as they leave the loot, that's fine by me. And besides, I've been dying to make some cities in the Southern Seas burn," said Abyss.

"The Imperials will only motivate me further, those fools humiliated us by bringing them here, now, they will pay dearly," said Tundra.

"Excellent. Our liaison with the Imperials will be Admiral Goran Kreeshkin of the Star Destroyer Praetor. He will provide you with whatever resources you will need to root out the remaining Freedom Fighters. I want them, anyone who helps them, anyone who has even had contact with them, anyone in any kind of position to decide to assist them, to burn. Capture, roboticize, pillage, I don't care. I want nothing for them to come back to, remind anyone that the loss of the Death Star has done nothing to affect us!"

"Yes, Lord Robotnik!" said the Sub-Bosses in unison.

"Good! Now, get going! Don't come back unless you have good news for me, or you all will end up either shot…or roboticized," said Robotnik.

The Sub-Bosses looked at each other with an air of nervousness. Cassia the Pronghorn soon turned to her sister Clove.

"Does this mean we can see those awesome walkers bash some heads in, sis?" Cassia said.

"Yes, Cass…there will be some head bashing," Clove said.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Come, we have work to do."

 _Rebel Base, Yavin IV_

Aboard the _Star Tornado_ , Sonic was sitting in the pilot's seat, with Tails occupying the co-pilot seat.

"Everything set?" said Sonic.

Tails nodded, as he finished plugging NICOLE into the ship's computer systems.

 _"System check complete, Sonic. We are ready to commence takeoff when ready,"_ said NICOLE.

"I'm ready when you're ready, Sonic," said Tails.

"Good, let's stretch her legs and do it to it!" said Sonic.

But as the ship begun to power up, they felt the ship rock with the rest of the base. Sonic pushed a button for the comms.

"Jericho, what's going on?"

 _"Sounds like another raid, Sonic. The Imperials are trying to slow us down, hoping they can scoop us up easier. Not gonna happen,"_ said Jericho.

"You got the 'not gonna happen' part right! Okay, everybody, we're taking off! Ready?" said Sonic.

"Proceed when ready, Sonic!" said Sally.

Sonic then pushed the switch to begin powering the engines, but within seconds… the ship begun to make a noise.

"What the… A STALLOUT?! OH, COME ON!"

Sonic tried again, and again, and again…. even slamming the console, but nothing happened.

"NICOLE, I thought you said everything was cool?" said Sonic.

 _"All systems are functional, Sonic. I cannot detect any mechanical defects,"_ said NICOLE.

"Strange, I'm not picking up anything either!" said Tails.

The ship rocked again as explosions drew near. Sonic snarled and then slammed the console even harder, and as if by miracle, the ship started up.

"Well…that was weird…anyway…let's get outta here!" said Sonic.

The _Star Tornado_ slowly lifted off the ground, as the _Storm Ranger_ flew past, with the _Tornado_ flying close behind it.

 _"Sonic, once were up there, stay close to me, this is the real deal again,"_ said Jericho.

 _"Yeah, stay close, we'll get you outta this,"_ said Dayton.

"You think I don't know that?" said Sonic.

 _"Don't fly like you got a death wish, don't argue, just come,"_ said Jericho.

As soon as the two ships cleared the hangar doors, they emerged in the middle of combat between Alliance and Imperial forces, with both ships attracting attention as they fled.

"Could use some people on those guns right now!" said Sonic.

"I get dibs! I got a record to break!" said Knuckles.

"Y'all keep a record?" said Bunnie.

"Yeah, starting with kills right on the Death Star," Knuckles said.

Sally rolled her eyes as she went to the lower gun, with Knuckles occupying the upper one, and begun aiming the turrets at the TIE Fighters and their TIE Bomber support.

 _"Watch those TIE Bombers! They can take a beating, and they got warheads!"_ said Seraphine.

"Just hope Sonic doesn't do crazy stunts!" said Knuckles.

"I heard that!" said Sonic.

The two transports weaved in and around the combat zone, most of the Imperials not paying them too much mind, save for the few TIE Fighters and Bombers chasing them.

"Four Fighters heading our way!" said Knuckles.

Knuckles opened fire on them, with Sally doing the same, with Knuckles eventually hitting one, while Sally was able to down two more.

"Hey! That was my kill, Princess!" said Knuckles.

"It became mine when it got into my sight, Knuckles!" said Sally.

As the two ships begun to exit the atmosphere, Knuckles took aim and was able to hit the last TIE Fighter on the wing, sending it plummeting to the surface below.

"YEAH!" he said.

Sally rolled her eyes.

"NICOLE, how soon can we make the jump to hyperspace?" said Sonic.

 _"Jump point is beyond that Imperial Star Destroyer."_

"Aw, you gotta be kidding!" said Sonic.

 _"Stay calm, we can get past these guys!"_ said Jericho.

 _"If we can just get past this guy, we're all clear,"_ said Dayton.

"Why can't this be easier? Tails, how's our shields holding up?" said Sonic.

"Still holding strong, Sonic! Keep covering us, guys!" said Tails.

 _"More fighters, heading our way! They got some friends, too. TIE Interceptors,"_ said Jericho.

"TIE Interceptors?" said Knuckles.

 _"They're faster and more maneuverable than standard TIE Fighters, and they have quad guns. Skilled pilot can fly circles around an X-Wing,"_ said Dayton.

"Heh, they don't look any tougher," said Knuckles.

The TIE Fighters and Interceptors rushed to attack the _Tornado_ and _Ranger_ , opening fire as soon as they were in range, battering both ships' shields. Knuckles fired back, hitting one of the Interceptors, but the rest swarmed past.

"They're coming in too fast!" he said.

 _"Stay on course, we can take 'em,"_ said Jericho.

Knuckles and Sally continued firing at the TIEs, with Knuckles shooting one Interceptor in the wing, causing it to crash into a TIE Fighter nearby.

"Two birds with one stone!" he said.

 _"Derek, Mercy-Giver, how are you doing up there?"_ said Jericho.

Derek and Seraphine, operating the _Storm Ranger_ 's turrets, were also taking on the TIEs around them.

 _"No problem, Jericho, handling it as usual!"_ said Derek.

 _"Yeah, and name-calling at least helps me here, makes me wanna imagine these guys are you right now,"_ said Seraphine.

 _"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. We're getting close to that Star Destroyer, brace yourselves for turbolaser fire,"_ said Jericho.

Sure enough, the Star Destroyer in their path began to open fire on them, as turbolaser blasts flew past them.

"WHOA! That almost clipped us there!" said Sonic.

 _"Stick with me, Sonic! Closer we get, the harder it'll be to hit us,"_ said Jericho.

One turbolaser blast struck the _Tornado_ , making it shake violently.

"Harder to hit, you say?!" Sonic said.

Knuckles and Sally continued holding off the TIE Fighters and Interceptors, working to keep them at bay.

"Sonic, these Interceptors are faster than you!" said Knuckles.

"Excuse me? Faster than moi? In your dreams, Knucklehead!" said Sonic.

The two ships flew closer to the Star Destroyer, as it's guns tried to get a bead on them, but so far, they kept missing.

 _"Full speed! Don't give 'em a chance to lock tractor beams onto us!"_ Dayton said.

The two ships begun skimming the surface of the Star Destroyer, dodging the turbolasers, until they flew over the rear of the ship.

 _"Okay, this is our chance!_ _You guys ready?"_ said Jericho.

"Are we ever! Let's juice!" said Sonic.

Sonic pulled a lever on the control panel, and the _Tornado_ followed the _Ranger_ into hyperspace, leaving their pursuers behind.

"Aw…I was hoping for a few more kills…oh, well," said Knuckles.

"That was a close one," said Tails.

 _"Get used to it. It's the nature of life out here,"_ said Jericho.

 _"Regardless, how did the Star Tornado perform?"_ Derek said.

"Well…so far, she runs as smoothly as Sonic on a good day, but there is room for improvement," said Tails.

"Yeah, she's no _Millennium Falcon_ , so, I think you and Rote got plenty to work on here," said Sonic.

"Agreed," said Sally.

"Relax, I got plenty of ideas on how we can improve this thing. Once we get to the _Salvation_ , I can get set up," said Rotor.

Sally nodded.

"Good. Speaking of getting set up, once we get to the _Salvation_ , we need to work fast and get ourselves re-established, the sooner we can get set-up…,"

"The sooner we can kick some Imperial butt," said Sonic.

"Yes, Sonic, so we can kick some Imperial butt," said Sally.

 _Citadel Tower, Robotropolis, Mobius_

Dr. Robotnik was sitting in his command center chair when a human male in an Imperial uniform entered.

"Ah, Admiral Kreeshkin, excellent you were able to join me," said Robotnik.

"Let's get right to it, Doctor. Our forces have imposed martial law on every settlement and city under our control. Curfew and checkpoints are in place, and our Probe Droids are scouring the countryside for wherever those filthy furballs hide."

"Oh, that's good. It warms my heart that we're ready to retaliate against that Hedgehog and his friends for making a fool out of me…," said Robotnik.

"Lord Vader himself will be conducting an inspection, by which I hope we will have stamped out the resistance on this planet," said Kreeshkin.

"Oh, trust me, Admiral…we will. And I intend to publicly show how helpless they are against my Roboticizer….and that Hedgehog will see," said Robotnik.

Snively then read a message that popped up on his console.

"Sir, we just received a message from one of our operatives, regarding the Wolf Pack," said Snively.

"Go on, Snively," said Robotnik.


	3. Chapter 3: Cry of the Wolf

**Chapter 03: Cry of the Wolf**

 _Canyon in Thunder Plains Zone, Northamer Badlands, Mobius_

Platoons of Stormtroopers, accompanied by AT-ST and AT-DP walkers patrolled the canyons, searching for their targets, which were hiding behind some rocks. A group of Mobian wolves, the Wolf Pack, watched as they observed the Imperials walk past; Lupe, their leader, calmly kept her eye on the walkers, and then eyed the path.

"Now, let's go," she said.

The Wolf Pack quickly sprinted across the canyon, praying the noise they made did not attract the attention of the squad that passed, the pack then quickly opened a door built into the canyon, leading to underground tunnels. Lupe stood last, making sure no eyes were on them, and then she proceeded inside, shutting the door just as another squad of Imperials walked past. She took a deep breath and then went to rejoin her people as they followed the tunnels that led to a lair deep underground, their only haven from the danger above. Lupe sat down as her fellow pack members approached.

"Senorita, the supplies we have are barely enough for a week. If those off-worlders attack, we won't stand a chance, especially against those armored mechs."

"I know, Reynard. The supply runs are getting more dangerous by the day."

"But we cannot give up, not when we still have a fighting chance," said Diablo.

"Even so, we were never prepared for off-worlders assisting Robotnik, we just weren't prepared, Lupe," said Lyco.

"Now they're almost right on top of us," said Leeta.

"At this rate, we won't last another day once they figure out where we are!" said Reynard.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas, Reynard," said Diablo.

"They've already destroyed Knothole, the Freedom Fighters there are missing, we don't know if they survived or not. I simply do not want us to lose everything, Diablo," said Reynard.

"What are you saying, Reynard? That we should come out and surrender ourselves?" said Lyco.

"Did we surrender when Robotnik rounded up and roboticized our people?" said Diablo.

"No, and we cannot expect anything less from these people, other than being shot," said Reynard.

"Enough. I will not even consider surrender, much less give up. Doing so will undermine those we've already lost. I will not see the end of our people, our culture, even our traditions, not at the hands of Robotnik, and not at the hands of the off-worlders. It would be an insult to those we fight with. But, I see your concerns, the off-worlders have appeared to be anticipating where we'll be…too well," said Lupe.

"What are you saying, Senorita?" said Leeta.

"Are you suggesting they may know where we'll be?" said Lyco.

"I don't suggest. I know. They were right on top of our destinations every time the last few days, and coincidences are unlikely."

Lupe then turned her eyes to Drago, who was standing in the corner, looking quite unconcerned.

"Drago, where were you during our last supply run?"

"I was hiding from those probe droids," said Drago.

"There were hardly that many, and you hung back, and when they spotted us, we had to abandon more than half our salvage. Also, I've noticed you've become withdrawn lately. Why?"

"Maybe I'm not comfortable with the idea of us fighting against impossible odds," said Drago.

"We've fought against worse and lived…what's that in your hand?"

"Coins from my collection," said Drago.

"You don't carry them with you, that's reckless."

Suddenly, Lupe hit Drago's hand with her knee, causing a small device to fly out of his hand.

"What is this?" she said.

"Is that…?" said Reynard.

"A tracking device," Lupe said.

Drago grew nervous.

"Why? Our people are so few now, Drago. Why turn your back on them?" said Lupe.

"I did it for myself, fools! We live like savages when we could've left this all behind? Well, that's not what I intend to do, and if I gotta put the rest of you down to get what I want, then so be it. Go ahead, I've already disgraced my ancestors, for what they're worth to me, nothing more than some bones in the ground," said Drago.

"You already disgraced yourself the day you sold out our people," said Lupe.

Drago then lunged at Lupe to try and grab her, but she countered the attack, grabbing his arm and throwing him over her shoulder and down on the ground. Drago then quickly got up and pulled his blaster out of his holster, but before he could fire a shot at Lupe, she punched him in the face as hard as she could, which knocked Drago out cold and caused him to fall onto the ground.

"Are you okay, Senorita?" said Canus.

"Yes, I'm fine, though I am disgusted even our own kind are not immune to behavior like this," said Lupe.

Suddenly, the room shook, and they heard a faint rumbling sound.

"An explosion?" said Lyco.

"We must hurry. Gather what you can, the off-worlders will be here soon," said Lupe.

"What about him?" said Renard.

Lupe looked at Drago, feeling her stomach twist in disgust.

"Leave him, but make him wear the mark of shame. His new "family" will see," said Lupe.

The Wolf Pack quickly ran about their hideout, grabbing what they could take with them, and destroying anything containing intelligence. Meanwhile, Leeta and Lyco moved Drago to a rock, tied his wrists behind him around the rock, and then retrieved a branding iron.

"The sacred Wolf Pack mark of shame, only given to 'lost' ones," said Lyco.

"This iron says in ancient tongue… 'Lost one'. Appropriate," said Leeta.

They put the iron to the flames as Drago slowly came to.

"Wha…what is…no…no, please! Not that! Anything but that!"

"You shamed your heritage…traitor," said Lyco.

"Is this truly necessary?" said Canus.

"As savage and…distasteful as it is, it must be done. I don't like this punishment, but our law still requires it, and it must be done. Do not worry, only traitors endure this," said Lupe.

The twins looked at Lupe, who then gave an approving nod, and the rest of the pack turned their backs to Drago, as Lyco and Leeta moved the iron and pressed it against Drago's face. Drago howled loudly in pain as the metal burned the flesh on his face, leaving the mark of shame, now permanently on his face.

"You know the off-worlders will have heard that," said Diablo.

"I know. When they come, they will see their puppet did not deserve an easy end to this. That is why he will bear the stigma. Now, come, it's time to leave," said Lupe.

"The Caves of No Return will not hold them for long, Senorita," said Canus.

Canus then went to another door, and he pushed it open, revealing another passage. But as the Pack begun to leave, the main entrance was engulfed in sparks.

"They're breaching! GO!" said Lupe.

They had only just barely started going through the exit when the entrance suddenly burst open, and several Stormtroopers flooded in.

"FREEZE, FURBALLS!"

"Look out!" said Reynard.

The Stormtroopers fired at the Wolf Pack, Reynard and Diablo fired back, killing a few troopers as they soon fled with the rest of the pack into the tunnels. A Death Trooper among them came in and looked around.

 _"Doctor, the Wolf Pack is on the run, Operative 97 is here, but appears to have some ancient mark burned into his face,"_ said the trooper.

 _"Get him some medical attention, but don't rush it, your priority are those wolves! I've waited too long to finish them! GET THEM NOW!"_ said Robotnik.

 _"Affirmative, sir. AFTER THEM!"_ said the trooper.

The Wolf Pack ran through the tunnels, barely slowing down for the turns, their feet slid across the rock floor as they turned at full speed.

"Now I know what it feels like to be Sonic the Hedgehog!" said Lyco.

The Wolf Pack soon reached the door, but the second they opened it, they saw a whole squad of Stormtroopers waiting.

"There they are! FREEZE!"

The Wolf Pack stopped outside the door, as the other troopers were not far behind. Lupe looked around as AT-ST and AT-DP walkers were coming up the canyon to render support. She then reached into her satchel and pulled a thermal detonator, hiding it behind her back. She then took a long, deep breath.

"Members of the Pack…let them hear our cry. Let them hear the cry of the Wolf Pack!"

Lupe then went into a long, deep howl, with the rest of the pack joining her, leaving the Imperials bewildered and confused, but the second Lupe stopped howling, she tossed the thermal detonator right at the Imperials. The Wolf Pack jumped to avoid the explosion that followed, which killed several troopers. The Wolf Pack then leapt to their feet and charged the ones that survived. Diablo charged one trooper and wrestled with him.

"DIE YOU FUZZ-GAGGGGGH!"

Diablo silenced the trooper by shooting him with his own blaster, as the Wolf Pack quickly found cover in the canyon.

"Sister! Behind you!"

Lyco shot two more troopers behind Leeta, who quickly turned and shot one more behind Lyco in return.

"Thank you, sister!" said Leeta.

"Likewise," said Lyco.

"Senorita! A Mech!" said Reynard.

The Wolf Pack saw an AT-ST close on their position, and it started firing at them. Lupe got to cover.

"Lyco, Leeta. See if you can get atop that mech, and take control of it, we need to get out of this canyon, and we need fire support!" said Lupe.

"We're already on it, Senorita!" said Leeta.

The twins climbed up the sides of the Canyon, while the Pack provided covering fire. Lyco and Leeta leapt from one ledge to another, until they were directly above the AT-ST. They leapt onto the top of it's command pod, and begun tapping the hatch. Soon, it opened as one of the pilots drew a blaster to fire at them, but he was shot by Lyco. Leeta grabbed the other pilot and tossed him off, with his dead co-pilot following suit. The twins then hopped in, closing the hatch.

"Now, to figure out how to pilot this thing…" said Leeta.

"Senorita! There's another one!" said Reynard.

"Diablo! Go with Reynard! Take control of that mech too! After that, follow my lead!" said Lupe.

Lupe barely dodged a shot from a Stormtrooper as she shot that one down, with more on the horizon. Reynard and Diablo meanwhile climbed up the cliff walls, preparing to do what the twins just did. They climbed until they leapt down onto the command pod of the second AT-ST. They forced the hatch open and shot the pilots dead, tossing them out, allowing them to take control. But unfortunately, the Stormtroopers were bringing AT-PTs and TIE Maulers for support.

"More mechs! Hurry!" said Lupe.

"Come on, Leeta! Get me a shot here!" said Lyco.

"I'm trying! But these controls are confusing!" said Leeta.

"Canus! See if you can draw their fire!" said Lupe.

"At once, Senorita," said Canus.

Canus ran across the open, firing his blaster rifle at the Imperials, as the TIE Maulers soon were in range, and started firing.

"Come on, Leeta! Hurry up!" said Lyco.

"I'M TRYING!" said Leeta.

"This thing walks like a child! I can barely control it!" said Reynard.

"It isn't that hard! Push that to make it move! Turn that to make it go wherever you point it!" said Diablo.

"Oh, thank you, Diablo! That's very helpful!" said Reynard.

Lupe continued staying in cover, and she then took a few more shots at the Imperials, but suddenly, one blaster shot hit her in the shoulder, and she howled as the pain could be felt.

"SENORITA!" said Canus.

Lupe gnashed her teeth.

"We need to leave…now!" she said.

Soon, the two AT-STs they'd captured begun to fire on the Imperials, taking them completely off-guard.

"All right, we got it!" said Lyco.

"Blast them!" said Diablo.

The Pack used their captured AT-STs to begin blasting AT-PTs and TIE Maulers, and begun clearing the way out of the canyon, as Canus rushed to Lupe's aid, helping her to her feet, and they begun heading down the canyon. The Wolf Pack fought their way, blasting any Imperials in their way, until they came across more AT-STs and AT-DPs.

"More mechs! We gotta take them out!" said Diablo.

Their AT-STs exchanged fire with the Imperials, destroying the AT-STs, but then Reynard noticed something above the AT-DP.

"Hit that boulder!" he said.

"Give me a shot!" said Diablo.

They turned their walker's guns on the large boulder above, firing a few shots at it, and it slowly begun to fall, and it crushed the AT-DP beneath its massive weight.

"We're almost out of here!" said Lupe.

The Wolf Pack turned the corner, towards the entrance to the valley, but the second they turned the corner, they saw something even more ominous, an AT-AT.

"Out…now," said Reynard.

"Leeta, get out, NOW!" said Lyco.

"GET BACK!" said Lupe.

Lyco, Leeta, Reynard, and Diablo barely jumped out of their AT-STs as the AT-AT fired on them, destroying both walkers. Lupe saw that there was only one way out.

"Run, head towards it's legs. If we get close enough, it can't turn fast enough to hit us! GO!" she said.

The Wolf Pack ran towards the AT-AT as it fired at them, but it kept missing them, soon, they managed to get under the walker, where it could not hit them, but soon, the walker begun to perform stomping actions with its feet.

"Keep moving! Watch the feet!" said Lupe.

The Wolf Pack ran to the entrance to the canyon, and with AT-STs closing fast, they had one shot at fleeing, as they exited the canyon, and ran to a nearby alcove.

"Let's hope the speeders are still usable…yes! Come! Quickly!" said Lyco.

The Wolf Pack's survivors loaded themselves onto the speeders, and quickly started them up, racing away just as the AT-AT turned around and tried to get a bead on them, but they were too quick for it to get a shot at them. They were already some distance away. Later, they stopped at the edge of a river to catch their breath, as Reynard tended to Lupe's wound.

"That spineless fool…how could he do this, to his own people, nonetheless?" said Reynard.

"He always wanted the 'easy life', he said it himself…OW! Easy, Reynard!" said Lupe.

"What does that even mean?" said Leeta.

"It means he wanted to go his own path, but it only took the off-worlders and Robotnik's empty promises to turn him against us for money," said Lupe.

"I only pity him," said Canus.

"Where does that leave us now?" said Lyco.

"She's right, Senorita, where do we go now? We won't last very long," said Reynard.

"We may have lost our homes, our brothers and sisters, but not our resolve. Fortunately, I know where we can go. Sally and I had a plan in place in the event Knothole went dark. There's a secret hideout near Robotropolis, only the leaders of the Freedom Fighters know about," said Lupe.

"Half the off-worlder's army is after us, and you want to go to Robotropolis? Into the vulture's den?" said Reynard.

"It's perfect, Reynard! The off-worlders are too busy scouring the countryside, they won't look too closely at the cities!" said Diablo.

"And if we're lucky, maybe the other Freedom Fighters managed to survive too!" said Lyco.

"I hope they did, and I also hope they didn't suffer the sting of betrayal either…nevertheless, it's the only place we can go now. Follow me, I know where to go," said Lupe.

 _Somewhere in the Outer Rim, Rebel Cruiser Salvation_

The _Star Tornado_ and _Storm Ranger_ exited hyperspace, and approached their destination.

"Look at the size of that starship!" said Rotor.

"I know! Think of all the hours I can spend on all those systems!" said Tails.

"You mean 'we', Tails. I got plenty of ideas on how we can improve the performance of both the _Tornado_ and the _Salvation_ at the same time! Oh, the things we can do!" said Rotor.

 _"Just make sure you refer it to me. Storm Ranger to Salvation. Geoffrey, you there?"_ said Jericho.

 _"I'm here, old friend. Good to see you made it. Also, good to see the Freedom Fighters got their new toy, too,"_ said Geoffrey.

 _"What do you think?"_ said Jericho.

 _"Good point,"_ said Geoffrey.

"You know I can hear you two," said Sonic.

 _"Oh, please tell me he's not flying that thing,"_ Geoffrey said.

 _"Not just that, he owns it,"_ said Jericho.

 _"What? I thought Sally would be the one to own it! Oh, never mind, you two may land in the main hangar bay,"_ said Geoffrey.

 _"He called dibs,"_ said Jericho.

The _Tornado_ and _Ranger_ approached the hangar bay for the _Salvation_ and landed in empty spaces not occupied by the many X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, and Z-95s parked inside the hangar bay. Geoffrey was waiting inside the hangar, and as soon as Jericho exited the _Ranger_ , they shook hands.

"I heard the fleet is scrambling to avoid the Imperials' retribution, but at least you guys made it back. And good thing their new baby is intact, at least," he said.

"First thing, deflector shields and armor. We're gonna be in hot zones a lot, so we need defenses first," said Rotor.

Tails looked around the Salvation's hangar bay.

"Look at all these fighters!" he said.

"Yeah, we're gonna be busy for a whole year, Tails."

Soon, three more Mobians arrived, a male Mobian weasel, a male Mobian eagle, and a male Mobian kangaroo approached.

"Ross Baldwin, Terry Ryback, and Kirk Vogel. Glad you three at least are still with us," said Jericho.

"We wouldn't do you good with all of us dead, would we, sir?" said Ross.

"Thought you were on the bottom of a walker's foot for sure, sir," said Kirk.

"Yeah, glad to see you're still in once piece, sir," said Terry.

"It's gonna take more than the Empire's best to get me at anything less than my best," said Jericho.

"Like back on Scarif?" said Ross.

Jericho then noticed behind his men, a female Mobian skunk who appeared to be trying to stay out of the open.

"Natalia Mydaus, is that you trying to be incognito?" said Jericho.

Natalia yelped a bit, trying to get out of sight.

"Scrapper, come out here now. We know you're there, the Skipper can smell you," said Terry.

"Don't make me come over there and drag you out; we have VIPs aboard, so come out," said Jericho.

Natalia slowly emerged, looking very nervous and not making direct eye contact with the Freedom Fighters.

"Now you three I remember from previous missions…her, I've never seen before," said Sally.

"She's new, she only just started getting in the field. Speaking of, how's your gut doing, Natalia?" said Jericho.

Natalia rubbed her belly a bit, cringing a bit.

"It still stings a bit, sir, but it's a lot better," said Natalia.

"Either way, good to meet you all," said Sally.

"It's an honor to be working with you, Princess," said Kirk.

"I know you follow protocol, but you don't have to call me that," said Sally.

"Anyway, I assume everyone else on the team is at their assigned stations?" said Jericho.

"Everyone is already posted and working as we speak, sir," said Ross.

"Good, escort the Freedom Fighters to their quarters. Today, you rest. Tomorrow, we will begin, zero-five-hundred hours," said Jericho.

"Why so early? I need my beauty sleep, you know! And I wanna work now!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, we need to be at one-hundred percent to work in this new environment, so be patient, and not the hospital kind," said Sally.

Sonic simply pouted.

"Follow me, please," said Ross.

The Freedom Fighters walked out of the hangar to the elevators, and rode the elevators to the crew quarters.


	4. Chapter 4: Andromeda

**Chapter 04: Andromeda**

 _Rebel Cruiser Salvation, Somewhere in the Outer Rim_

Sally woke up the next morning, at least according to the time, and she got out of bed and got dressed.

 _"Good Morning, Sally. The time is 0445 hours,"_ said NICOLE.

"I know, NICOLE…wait, NICOLE?"

Sally saw a small hand-held computer on the desk, and she knew it had to be NICOLE inside.

"NICOLE! NICOLE, it is so nice to hear your voice again, I thought we'd lost you back at Yavin IV," said Sally.

NICOLE then appeared in her Holo-Lynx form.

"Yes, Sally. It's good that I am still functional," said NICOLE.

Sally and NICOLE hugged, Sally felt her heart flutter a bit to see her friend's holographic platform once again.

"What did they do?" said Sally.

"Rotor and Tails, with the aid of Rebel Alliance technicians, were able to salvage my primary data core from my previous unit. That unit, unfortunately, was beyond any repair, so they found a similar unit to house my core. They cobbled this one together, to make it compatible with my processing requirements."

"That's great," said Sally.

"Yes," said NICOLE.

Sally placed NICOLE's handheld unit on her boot, and the two of them walked out of Sally's room, walking down the hallway, seeing the other Freedom Fighters getting out of bed, except for Sonic. Sally and NICOLE looked in Sonic's room as Tails walked out.

"Is he still sleeping?" said Sally.

"Yep, you know he's a heavy sleeper, and he talks in his sleep sometimes. It's something you get used to, but man, does he say weird stuff," said Tails.

"What do you mean, 'weird stuff'?" said Sally.

"Just listen," said Tails.

Sally and NICOLE walked over to the sleeping Sonic, and sure enough, he was.

"No….no…. stop…. you're pure evil…. why are you coloring my arms?" Sonic said.

Sally and NICOLE looked at each other, bewildered, but Sally then grinned, and then, she leaned towards him, and kissed him on the cheek.

"GAAH!"

Sonic woke up with a start, and he saw Sally and NICOLE giggling.

"Not funny, Sal! You're the one who's supposed to wake up after being kissed!" said Sonic.

"Good thing I don't follow stereotypes then," said Sally.

"Ugh…. oh, NICOLE? Good to see you're still with us!" said Sonic.

"Thank you, Sonic, my main hedgehog," said NICOLE.

"Come on, Sonic. Jericho told us to be ready by now," said Sally.

"I haven't even got a chance to eat breakfast yet," said Sonic.

The Freedom Fighters made their way to the briefing room, where Jericho and Dayton were waiting for them.

"Take a seat everyone, we've been working on our first target, just for you," said Jericho.

"Whoopee," said Sonic.

"We've located a small space installation located on the edge of the Mobia sector, it appears to be a refueling point for prison transports," said Dayton.

"And guess who we've determined are going to be passing through that sector?" said Jericho.

"Who? Some bigwig Rebel person that we don't even know?" said Sonic.

"Sonic," said Sally.

"A group of prisoners that were rounded up at Knothole," said Jericho.

"Wait a Sonic second, did you say, 'Prisoners from Knothole'?" said Sonic.

"Yep. We were able to track down your friends taken when the Imperials attacked Knothole, it appears they've stopped here while awaiting final transport to Kessel," said Jericho.

"And we're gonna intercept them before the Imperials have a chance to do so," said Sally.

"Exactly, that's where you all come in," said Jericho.

"What do you need us to do?" said Tails.

"Your job is to destroy the TIE Fighter defenses and take out any static defenses in the area. Dayton here will guide the _Salvation_ to dock with the station and Geoffrey here will retrieve all the prisoners," said Jericho.

"Great, we do all the hard work, and St. Jerk here gets the easy part," said Sonic.

"It ain't that easy, boy. Besides, I got my eyes on another prize," said Geoffrey.

"What kind of prize?" said Sonic.

"This base has taken delivery of a brand-new _Assassin_ -class CR92a Corvette, and we're going to take it," said Geoffrey.

"An Imperial Corvette could be useful," said Sally.

"Indeed, it may have intel on the Imperials' operations in that sector; that's why we're going to capture it once we free the prisoners," said Geoffrey.

"Great work, gentlemen, you didn't waste any time planning this attack, couldn't have done better myself," said Sally.

"Well, we figured you'd want to get to it right away, and there's no time to waste to save your friends from Knothole," said Jericho.

"Speaking of wasting time, we gotta juice it loose if we're gonna save our friends!" said Sonic.

"Indeed, let's get to the hangar," said Sally.

"You guys take the X-Wings, I'll take some of my guys, we'll fly the Y-Wings," said Jericho.

"Sure thing!" said Sonic.

The Freedom Fighters and Rebels walked down to the hangar, where the fighters were being prepared for battle. Jericho was addressing Kirk, Natalia, Terry, and Ross, as well as a male Mobian Elephant, a male Mobian turtle, and a male Mobian Caribou.

"All right, gentlemen…and lady. This is our first operation with the Freedom Fighters, so let's not disappoint," said Jericho.

"We never do, sir."

"Noted, Lt. McElephonsky," said Jericho.

"As long as we get to do some serious damage in the process of rescuing those folks, I got no problems, sir,"

"Noted, Declan."

Terry raised his hand.

"Just one thing, sir. Are you sure Mydaus here is ready for starfighter ops? She's still…"

"She handled herself just fine on Scarif, Ryback," said Ross.

"I know that! I'm just saying…"

"It's your first time up in space with us, Mydaus. You sure you're ready?" said Jericho.

"Sir, yes, sir. I won't let you down, sir," said Natalia.

"Just remember your training. Stay close to me and Lt. McElephonsky and follow my instructions, you'll do fine."

"Yes, sir," said Natalia.

"Mount up," said Jericho.

Everyone in Jericho's squad walked towards the Y-Wings, but Jericho stopped Lt. McElephonsky.

"Keep a close eye on her, Emil. Scarif was all ground, but this is different."

"She'll be fine, Skipper. Don't forget, she took a blaster for you. I have no doubts."

"Agreed," said Jericho.

Seraphine then arrived as Jericho prepared to board his Y-Wing.

"Got something you need, mercy-giver?"

"Nope. Just came to wish you luck out there. Let's go save some lives."

"Just stay out of the way…and you can help," said Jericho.

"Don't worry. I'm an extra gun for your friend, St. John, I'll make sure to do my job," said Seraphine.

Jericho said nothing as he climbed aboard his Y-Wing. Meanwhile, Sonic was having his R3 unit loaded onto his X-Wing as Sally approached him.

"Sonic?"

"Yes, Sal?"

"Remember, no stunts out there. We gotta show these people we're reliable. It's a whole new game out here."

"I know, Sal. 'Play it safe'; no showboating, no recklessness, & nothing that got our franchise into trouble in the first place."

Sally raised her eyebrow.

"What?"

"I'll never understand what you mean by that last part."

"Whatever. Let's go!"

The Freedom Fighters flew their X-Wings out of the _Salvation_ 's hangar, with the Rebels following close behind with their Y-Wings. They wasted no time going to hyperspace, with the _Salvation_ following close behind. The Freedom Fighters and Rebels soon exited hyperspace near the space station.

"Visual on target," Jericho said.

"Alright. Sonic, you, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles start with those gun platforms, the rest of us will take care of the fighters," said Sally.

"We'll be on it!" said Sonic.

"We're with you, Sonic!" said Tails.

"Just no showing off like last time! Let's just get our friends and get out!" said Knuckles.

You do realize this is Sonic we're talking about, Knuckles?" said Amy.

"Right, forget I asked," said Knuckles.

The TIEs moved to intercept the Rebels, Sally's X-Wing group moved to engage them, as Sonic's X-Wing group moved to attack the gun platforms.

"Amy, let's see if we can draw that gun platform's fire! Sonic and Knuckles, you can get a shot at it!" said Tails

"I'll cover you, Tails!" Amy said.

"Hey, Knuckles, who's gonna make a bigger 'boom'?" Sonic said.

"Bigger than yours, ya blue buffoon!" said Knuckles.

"Focus, you two!" Amy said.

"Oh, Ames, relax! We're just having a little fun!" said Sonic.

Tails and Amy took evasive action as the gun platform opened fire on them, giving Sonic and Knuckles an opening.

"You got a shot! Take it!" said Amy

Sonic and Knuckles lined up a shot with their cannons and opened fire, bringing down the gun platform's shield before they were able to destroy it easily.

"One down! Five left!" said Tails.

"Five left? Heh, more for me!" said Knuckles.

"Not if I get 'em first, Knucklehead!"

As Sonic's group was busy tangling with the gun platforms, Sally's group was engaging the platform's TIE Fighter defenses, with only Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor for support.

"Rotor! Take the one off the far side!"

"I copy, Sally! I just need an opening for a shot!"

"We got ya covered, Rotor!'

Against a full squadron of TIE Fighters, Sally then felt a rush & strangely calm, not feeling much sweat in her hands associated with pressure. She lined up her shot, but before the lock could be finalized, she fired off some shots, destroying not only the TIE in front of her, but two others alongside it. Sonic was in awe.

"Whoa, Sal! That was awesome! Now watch how a REAL ace does it!"

"Watch that crossfire, Sonic!"

Sonic suddenly did a spin to dodge the blaster fire. And then, without even looking, Sonic fired several more Proton Torpedoes at the gun platforms... & it was a direct hit.

"Whoa! Did you see that?! AWESOME!" said Sonic.

"Yeah, how'd you do it?!" said Knuckles.

"I don't know... & frankly, who cares? Scratch two gun platforms!" Sonic said.

Meanwhile, Jericho's group of Y-Wings moved in for an attack run to disable the platform.

"Ryback, Caribous, Vogel, Mydaus, on my left, Lt., Chief, and Gunny Chief, on my right. We need to knock down that platform's shields!"

"Shield Generator's in sight," said Terry.

"Locked on target, Skipper!" said Declan.

"Proton Torpedoes away!" said Ross.

The Y-Wings fired a few Proton Torpedoes to destroy the generator, which caused the platform's shields to fail.

"It's a direct hit!" Emil said.

"Shields are down! Let's get to disabling it!" Mitchell said.

"Right, switch to Ion Cannons," said Jericho.

"Hey, Ryback, lemme show you how to properly use old-school Ion Cannons!" said Ross.

"Anyone can use Ion Cannons, Gunny!" said Terry.

"Natalia, stick close to me and the Skipper. Stay frosty," said Kirk.

"Sir, yes, sir!" said Natalia.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were taking care of the last set of guns on their end. They unloaded their blasters on the last gun platform, until it exploded in a fireball.

"And that's the last of them!" said Sonic.

"All too easy!" said Knuckles.

"Fantastic, help us wrap up these fighters!" Sally said.

Antoine, meanwhile, was chasing one of the TIE Fighters around the station.

"Zis one iz mine!" he said.

"SUGAH! YA GOT ONE BEHIND YA!" Bunnie said.

Antoine turned and saw another TIE Fighter turning to chase him down.

"Oh no!"

He began firing wildly, hitting the TIE in front of him, sending it careening down until it exploded, and at the same time, felt hits on his shields from the one behind him.

"GET HIM AWAY!"

Rotor came up behind the TIE Fighter chasing Antoine, and he locked on and fired at the TIE Fighter, destroying it instantly.

"And that's why you should always have wingmen watching your back," he said.

"You okay, Antoine?" said Sally.

"Oui, oui, moi princezz. I am being fine."

Sonic managed to shoot down three TIE Fighters at once, though Knuckles had an unamused look on his face while watching.

"Sonic, what did I say about not showing off?"

"Oh, you're just too slow, Knucklehead!"

"STOP CALLING ME 'KNUCKLEHEAD'!"

Meanwhile, Jericho's Y-Wing group prepared for their next attack run, to barrage the station with their Ion Cannons.

"Ready to fire, Skipper," Emil said.

"Fire at will, disable that station!" Jericho said.

"Firing!" said Natalia.

The Y-Wings fired away, until the station stopped firing back at them.

"Target disabled," said Kirk.

"We're almost done mopping up these TIE's! Let's do it do it!" said Sonic.

"Salvation, you are clear to dock," said Jericho.

" _Copy that, moving in for the docking operation,"_ said Dayton.

The _Salvation_ slowly moved to a docking port and slowly moved until it merged its airlocks. Inside, Geoffrey and a team of Rebel Soldiers were arming up for the boarding operation, among them, Seraphine and a male dark blue Mobian hedgehog that was older than her.

"Relax, St. John, these Imperials rarely if ever see combat, it's lucky they still remember how to fire a blaster at a living target," said Seraphine.

"It's not the Imperials I'm concerned about," said Geoffrey.

The male hedgehog saw a light come on near the door controls.

"Airlock pressurized. Let's get in there."

Geoffrey looked at him.

"I'm sorry, didn't quite get your name, mate, you are…?"

"Aaron James Nasler. Everyone calls me A.J."

"My older brother, he arrived here while you guys were sleeping, didn't get a chance to introduce him, not that your boss cares," said Seraphine.

"Well, regardless of who you are, follow my lead & we'll all get out of here. Everyone ready?"

"Ready when you are, man," said A.J.

"Ready, Commander St. John," said one of the soldiers.

"MOVE OUT!" Geoffrey said.

The Rebels ran across the airlock tube to the space station's door.

"It's locked, of course, they aren't gonna welcome us with open arms," said A.J.

Geoffrey placed a charge on the door.

"Breach charge set. CLEAR!" he said.

The breach charge beeped a few times until it blew open the door's locking mechanism, and the Imperials quickly opened fire as the Rebels stormed the station, who returned fire on the Imperials. Seraphine led the charge, firing her shotgun at the Imperials. Geoffrey provided cover fire for the Rebels storming the station, taking down a few Stormtroopers in the process as well. The Rebel soldiers swept the corridors of the station, searching for access to the holding cells. A.J. then checked a nearby console.

"Holding cells are right above us," he said.

"And we got company!" Geoffrey said.

More Stormtroopers came running out of a nearby corridor, he fired several shots at a squad of Stormtroopers but only taking down one of them. A.J., in cover, took a deep breath, and then ran out, firing his pistol at the Stormtroopers, going into a slide across the floor as he shot them.

"What are you doing?! Get in cover!"

A.J. started firing his pistol frantically until it started to overheat & a Stormtrooper was right over him. A.J. quickly kicked the trooper in the legs and knocked him down, quickly grabbing the E-11 rifle the trooper dropped and fired point blank into the trooper, killing him.

"This is not the time for crazy stunts, merc! Now come on! We gotta keep moving! The Freedom Fighters can't buy us time forever!" Geoffrey said.

"I took out those troopers, didn't I?!" A.J. said.

"Not before your blaster overheated! Now come on!"

The Rebels made their way up, until they reached the holding cells, and Geoffrey peered around the corner, seeing force-field cages full of prisoners, and he gasped.

"Bloody hell, I know these people! They were the prisoners that were at Knothole! Wait a minute... "

He approached one cell that contained a familiar face, a black and white female Mobian cat, and whispered.

"You alright?"

"Commander St. John...is it really you?"

"Hershey! Keep your voice down, we're getting you outta here!"

But suddenly, they heard screaming from across the room, and saw a civilian was in a Roboticizer chamber.

"HELP THAT CIVILIAN-!"

"But it was too late, as the Imperial officer had already activated it. The roboticizer began to activate, and they could only watch in horror as the civilian banged on the glass, tears in his eyes, as the machine fired energy into his body. Geoffrey then looked at a nearby wall near the Roboticizer.

"Look! That's Ari the Ram…looks like he's next. Not if I can help it…"

Geoffrey then loaded his wrist crossbow with a single bolt. The Imperials looked up to see Geoffrey St. John & the rest of the Rebels.

"This party's over, boys."

Geoffrey fired, and shot one of Ari's shackles, which was enough to allow Ari to break free, to the shock of the Imperials all around. He then grabbed one Stormtrooper and smashed him against the wall, before smashing him into another one nearby, grabbing their blaster rifles and firing at the Imperials. A.J. & Seraphine worked with the rest of the soldiers to free the others while the Imperials were distracted.

"Don't just stand there! BLAST THEM!" said the officer.

"If any of you can fight, pick up a weapon and start shooting anyone wearing corny white armor!" said Seraphine.

"YOU HEARD THE LADY!" said Ari.

The prisoners filed out of the cells, fighting the Imperials trying to contain them, and those who could fight, grabbed the Imperials' blasters and launched their full-scale prison break. But A.J. soon heard the Roboticizer chamber open.

"Hey...guys?" he said.

"Oh no...he's a Robian now…" Geoffrey said.

" _Detain Rebel Terrorists, detain Freedom Fighters, glory to Robotnik and the Empire."_

A.J. fired a stun shot at the Robian, which stunned it a bit, but he kept firing, until Geoffrey joined in, firing stun shots from his blaster pistol, until the Robian was subdued.

"That should keep it knocked out for a while, but not forever."

He then barely dodged a stray shot that came from another squad of Stormtroopers entering the holding cells, along with a few enemies he recognized from Scarif: Two Death Troopers & two ShadowBots.

"I thought those were all killed on Scarif?!"

"Evidently not!"

" _Jericho to Geoffrey; Report in, what's happening in there?"_

"Nothing we can't handle, boy scout. Prisoners are secured, preparing to evacuate."

We'll tell you when we get out, I'm gonna take a squad and some of these prisoners and secure that Corvette." said Geoffrey.

" _Alright, Geoffrey, watch yourself, and move fast."_

As A.J. was helping prisoners, he saw a BFF-1 Bulk Freighter docked at another airlock through a window.

"Hey guys, there's a freighter docked here too! Looks like a supply ship!"

"Well, looks like we'll take both with us!" said Geoffrey.

"Anyone good with freighters, come with me!" said A.J.

"I'll get some of these people back to the Salvation."

Geoffrey nodded.

"Anyone who knows how to fly a freighter, follow A.J. The rest of you come with me or Seraphine! Ari, can you help me out? We're gonna take that Corvette docked at this station!" said Geoffrey.

"Of course, Commander St. John. I'm right with you," said Ari.

"So am I," said Hershey.

Geoffrey continued shooting at the Death Troopers & the Shadowbots, taking down one Death Trooper but wounding a ShadowBot.

" _Terminate: Rebel Scum."_

"'Rebel Scum' this!" said Seraphine.

She threw a Thermal Detonator, which landed at the ShadowBot's feet, detonating and destroying its legs.

Meanwhile, outside, Sonic was looking bored, having finished off the last of the TIE Fighter defenders.

"Awww, why does he get to have all the fun? I would've gotten the prisoners out of there yesterday!"

"Stay alert. We're not in the clear yet. Wait. Long range sensors are picking up a flight group at point two. Configuration Imperial. Corvettes."

"Corvettes?" said Sonic.

" _Raider_ -class," said Knuckles.

"And a few _Tartan_ -Class ones too. This is gonna get rough." Kirk said.

" _Tartans_? Oh great. One wrong move & we're space dust in microseconds!" said Knuckles.

"I'm not afraid of them!" Sonic said.

"Sonic, what did we tell you? No showboating!" said Sally.

"Oh come on! We can take 'em!" said Sonic.

"Focus, please. Get into attack formations. Sally, take the left, we'll take the right," said Jericho.

"Just point us in the direction & we'll send the torpedoes flying! I just hope they got the prisoners out on time!" said Knuckles.

Soon, a _Raider_ -Class Corvette and three _Tartan_ -Class cruisers exited hyperspace.

"... Okay, I take it back; those _Raider-_ Class Corvettes...they look a bit tougher than I thought," said Sonic.

" _Raider_ is preparing to launch Starfighters! Good. Hey, Big LT, how many you plan to blow up?" said Declan.

"More than you, wise guy," said Emil.

"Keep this comm clear, you two," said Jericho.

The _Tartans_ immediately moved to protect the _Raider_ as they also began hunting the Rebel fighters.

"Sal, Jericho, please tell me you got a plan," said Sonic.

"For now, focus on the fighters, let's see if we can keep them away from the _Salvation_ until she detaches," said Sally.

"Sounds good to me!" said Sonic.

The TIE Fighters launched from the _Raider_ began to engage the Rebels as the _Tartans_ fired on them too.

"Yo, St. Jerk! What's going on in there?! What's taking so long?" said Sonic.

" _You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Especially with Jericho on the comm."_

"Just get to that Corvette, fast!"

" _Working on it! How much longer until everyone's on board those two vessels?"_ said Geoffrey.

" _We're just finishing up here, it shouldn't be long! Jericho, see if you can draw those Corvettes near the ship! We got a surprise for them."_

"What surprise?" said Knuckles.

"Good. Do what he says!" said Jericho.

"Okay, but I don't like this," said Knuckles.

The Rebels kept shooting down TIE Fighters and dodging the Corvettes' fire, but then, Terry took one hit from a Tartan, though true to a Y-Wing's nature, it only took a scratch.

"Huh, what do you know? They really did build these Y-Wings very well!" he said.

Natalia was dodging hard, a little too hard.

"This is Scrapper! I need help!" she said.

"Stay calm, don't get all panicky," said Jericho.

"I'M ALREADY PANICKY!" said Natalia.

"Scrapper, angle your fighter 45 degrees!" said Terry.

Natalia did as Terry was told & managed to avoid a huge foray of turbolaser fire from the Tartans.

"Remember to breathe slow," said Kirk.

Natalia slowly took a few deep breaths & managed to focus, dodging but no longer doing so too hard.

"This...this isn't so hard, now that you tell me…"

"Where did Jericho pick her up?" said Tails.

"To be honest, bud, I have no idea where he finds these people," said Sonic.

" _Everyone's aboard the Salvation, beginning to detach…now,"_ said Dayton.

Soon, the _Salvation_ detached from the station, and trained its guns on the _Tartans_.

" _You might wanna stand back! We're gonna pump some turbolasers into these guys!"_ said Dayton.

" _I'm on board the Corvette & about to launch!" _said Geoffrey.

" _Engines powered up, Commander!"_ said Hershey.

" _We're outta here!"_ said Geoffrey.

" _So are we,"_ said A.J.

The Corvette and the freighter detached from the station, and Geoffrey began setting the corvette on an attack course to attack the _Raider_.

" _This is Commander St. John aboard the Corvette…. Andromeda. I want an attack course & all our guns on this vessel to aim for that Raider-class & open fire!"_

As the _Salvation's_ guns shredded the _Tartans_ , the _Raider_ turned and fired back at it.

"Geoffrey, see if you can cripple him, we'll deliver the kill shot," said Jericho.

"Provide covering fire, Freedom Fighters!"

" _We can try it. You heard him, crew! Cripple that Raider-class! Hershey, are we in attack position?"_

" _Locked on, and ready to fire."_

" _Then open fire!"_

The newly-christened _Andromeda_ opened fire, hitting the _Raider_ class and damaging its engines and it's shield generator.

" _Commander, we damaged the engines & the shield generator, but its main weapon systems are still intact,"_

" _Well circle around & distract them for our bombers!"_

"That'll do. Natalia, arm your torpedoes and make your attack run on the bridge. This kill is yours," said Jericho.

"Aye aye, sir!"

She flew in & armed her torpedoes, locking on to the _Raider's_ bridge, waiting for it to fire on the _Andromeda_ , then just as when the _Raider_ was distracted, she flew into range and fired her volley of torpedoes directly at the _Raider's_ bridge.

"Torpedoes away!"

The torpedoes struck the bridge, and the _Raider_ began to go down in fire and explosion.

"Great shot!" said Kirk.

Natalia just bashfully giggled & flew away from the Raider. Sonic and Knuckles were just glad to see it blow up.

"Yo, Knux! You taking a holo-vid of this?" said Sonic.

"Indeed! Gonna post it on the HoloNet to stick it to the Imperials!" Knuckles said.

"You two can finish off that station platform," said Jericho.

"Still got a bunch of Proton Torpedoes left," said Sonic.

"Now it's my turn to showboat!" said Knuckles.

"You only need to hit the bridge, you know," said Jericho.

"Race ya, Knucklehead!" said Sonic.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, STOP CALLING ME 'KNUCKLEHEAD'!" said Knuckles.

He flew in to catch up with Sonic & managed to get a lock onto the station's bridge before Sonic did.

"TORPEDOES AWAY! "

He fired his remaining payload of torpedoes at the station's bridge, causing severe damage. Sonic also fired all his proton torpedoes at the bridge as well, one of them penetrated the hull deeper and struck an area deep within.

"Uh oh, I think I hit their reactor," said Sonic.

"You know what that means!" said Knuckles.

"'Boom,'" said Sonic.

"Everyone get clear!" said Jericho.

"Don't have to tell us twice!" said Knuckles.

"Let's get outta here!" said Sonic.

The station began to explode in fire and explosion as the Freedom Fighters and Rebels flew away from it to safety.

"Beautiful. Beautiful indeed," said Declan.

"Set course for these coordinates. We have a delivery to make," said Jericho.

"Where do they lead?" said Sally.

"Home. Away from home," said Jericho.

 _Deerwood Forest, Mercia-Avalon, Mobius_

Atop a tree on a wooden sentry post, a male Mobian Sparrow was standing watch with his macrobinoculars, when he saw activity near Avalon Castle, which made his hands begin to sweat profusely under his gloves.

"Egad…. they conjure for assault! Must be off telling his majesty!" he said.


	5. Chapter 5: Avalon's Mercy

**Chapter 05: Avalon's Mercy**

 _Deerwood Forest, Mercia-Avalon, Mobius_

The sparrow hustled across the trees, running across their limbs, his breathing heavy, feeling small snowflakes land on his face, melting instantly from the body heat. He looked up as it suddenly grew dark, spotting an _Imperial_ -class Star Destroyer looming overhead, with TIE Fighters and Bombers flying out of it, along with several transport vessels, headed towards the castle that was visible behind him, in the distance through the trees. He leapt down to the forest floor, and ran, until he stopped, hearing a humming sound. He took cover behind a narrow tree, drawing out a blaster pistol instead of the bow and arrow he had; he kept very still, almost not breathing, as an Imperial Probe droid hovered near. The droid hummed a bit, but then it flew off, and the sparrow sighed in relief. He continued heading deep into the forest, until he came across a set of wooden walls, with several heavy blasters atop them. He waved his way through the gate, where more Mobians were waiting for him.

"Heh, took ya long 'nuff, Bow. What's goin' on out 'ere?"

"Hardly the time for acts of humor, Munch…whereat the king? Much urgency to my words," said Bow.

"Bow? What is going on out there?"

Bow and Munch turned around, seeing a female red Echidna walking down from a tree.

"You look like you ran several laps to and from town."

"M'lady, Mari-An…I must speaketh with his majesty…t'is urgent!"

Mari-An nodded and looked up at the hut atop the large tree behind her.

"Rob, m'love! Bow hath returned, with urgency!"

Soon, a teal male Mobian Hedgehog appeared on the balcony of the hut and gestured.

"King Rob O'The Hedge, m'lord!" said Bow.

"Much obliged m'loved, allow him to enter," said Rob.

Mari-An nodded and directed Bow up the steps, and he soon met Rob inside the hut. Rob then gave Bow some water and they sat down.

"Thank you, your highness."

"Take your rest, my friend. Why art thee exhausted?"

Mari-An, with the rest of the Mercia-Avalon Freedom Fighters, soon joined them.

"My king, the forces of Lord Hood work alongside the off-worlders known as the Galactic Empire, working to destroy yet more of our defenses, forcing many to take flight or face a fate worse than a quick death," said Bow.

Mari-An gasped in horror.

"I wish well-being for those lost souls, brother; correct, Friar Buck?" said Rob.

Friar Buck, a male Mobian deer, nodded.

"Do you believe they will be alright, Friar?"

"I cling to hope, Sister Thorn, for all this bloodshed brings nothing but depression to one," said Friar Buck.

"At least you survive, brother Bow. Are they conjuring?"

"Verily, brother Alan. Even now, tis futile to hide, for their scouting droids are searching high and low for our village of Hideaway. I fear they may be conjuring for an assault," said Bow.

"Heh, their droids can be broken, same to their soldiers and machines," said Munch.

"Yet those off-worlders craft them out of metal far harder than thee head," said Alan.

"All the more we'll find a way to stop 'em," said Munch.

"Brother Munch, we cannot fight fire with fire today, from what brother Bow states, t's a fool's errand for this group to fight an army of many millions," said Friar Buck.

"You suggestin' surrender? No way!" said Munch.

"Surrender was not what I was suggesting, brother," said Friar Buck.

"I agree, t's would serve little to surrender, for we'd either be summarily executed or Roboticized…" said Rob.

"You'd be correct, your highness," said Munch.

"Your highness, thee must consider flight, the army of the Empire is far stronger than any we could possibly face," said Bow.

"Where would we go?" said Mari-An.

"Knothole is out of the question, owing to it's destruction by these off-worlders," said Alan.

"Why not Robotropolis, m'lord? The Imperials seem to focus on looking for us and others in the wilderness, and we could find transport off-world," said Thorn.

"You are partially on the right track, sister Thorn, but not for reasons thee believe. There be a place of hiding that Princess Sally made me aware of."

Rob produced a small chip from his satchel and handed it to Bow.

"Take this, used in tandem with thee location device, you can find it. If the other Freedom Fighters live, they will go. But first…we maketh our stand," said Rob.

"A stand? Your highness, t's foolish! The Imperial war machines bear unstoppable might," said Bow.

"Brother Bow speaketh truth, your highness. Even to give the folk of this village time to flee, this will be inevitable loss for us," said Friar Buck.

"Do not fear, Friar! We will take many of them before we flee," said Alan.

"For once, I'm agreein' with Alan. We go down, we at least take dozens with us," said Munch.

"But the Friar remains correct as well; no battle we fight today will be won. When the village flag burneth by my arrows, you lot will see cause to take flight," said Rob.

"Where will you lead us, m'lord?" said Bow.

"To the place of hidin', brother. You hold on to that chip, I know it'll be safe with you, brother," said Rob.

"Yes, m'lord!" said Bow.

Rob nodded.

"Prepare our defenses then, for now, we fight. When the flag burns…"

"We take flight," said Bow.

"Good, now be off," said Rob.

"One final question, m'lord," said Bow.

"Yes?"

"In the event something was to happen to thee…. what will thou tell the Lady Rose upon encountering her?" said Bow.

Rob paused for a moment, looking down at his hands, and then looked back up at Bow.

"Inform thee fair cousin Rose…. only of the truth. Nothing but. No attempt at fairy tales, Art thou clear?" said Rob.

"But…. As thee wishes, your highness, thee wish is thou command," said Bow.

"Excellent, be off," said Rob.

Bow bowed as he joined the rest of the Freedom Fighters down below. Rob then took a deep sigh as Mari-An took his hand.

"Are you sure we'll be alright?" she said.

"We shall be fine, m'love," he said.

Down below, the Freedom Fighters were already moving civilians out of the village, while the remaining militia were helping them prepare defenses.

"Are you finished with those traps, Friar?" Thorn said.

"Just about, sister, though I wish it didn't have to be this way," said Friar Buck.

"Nor I, Friar, though many doth feared the return of these off-worlders. They have caught us unawares and unprepared," said Bow.

"I say bring 'em on if they want a fight," said Munch.

"What would that achieve, brother Munch?" said Friar Buck.

"T's but inflation of ego, Friar," said Alan.

Alan then sat down and prepared his mandolin.

"Alan, if you consider singin' right now, I'm gonna-"

"Be fair, brother Munch. His tune might give us a boost in morale," said Thorn.

"Sister Thorn speaketh truth, brother," said Friar Buck.

 _"T's a sad day indeed…. thee losses cause us to heed…thee shall stand to fight many more a day…"_

Munch just cringed as he zoned out to avoid listening to Alan's song. Meanwhile, Rob was at his balcony, sharpening his arrows, as Mari-An wrapped some rags around another set of arrowheads. Rob then saw his glass of water vibrate and heard loud heavy footsteps from far away. He then ran to the edge of the balcony.

"THEY COMETH! THEY COMETH NOW! TAKETH POSITIONS!"

The Freedom Fighters signaled the town militia to take up positions on the main entrance to the village, where they saw signs of movement far off in the distance in the trees.

"Restrain thyselves! Await them to enter range!" said Bow.

"Where be the fun in that, eh?" said Munch.

"Contrarily, brother Munch, t's will catch them unawares this time," said Alan.

Rob watched the advancing Imperials through his electrobinoculars, and then he grabbed one arrow, and held it to the flame of a torch, lighting it up. He then took aim and waited a few moments before he let off the arrow, sending it flying towards an Imperial officer leading the battalion, setting him ablaze to his death.

"THERE THEY ARE! BLAST THEM!" said a Stormtrooper.

"ATTACK!" said Bow.

The Freedom Fighters and town militia opened fire with a hail of arrows and blaster bolts, striking the front line of Stormtroopers, forcing them into cover among the terrain and trees.

"The war machines t's out of range! Make the most of it, brothers and sisters!" said Bow.

The Freedom Fighters clashed with the charging Stormtroopers, with Munch and Alan throwing punches and firing pistol shots at troopers they got close and personal with in combat. Friar Buck simply stood at the gate, not even raising an arm as a Stormtrooper squad advanced on him.

"Hands up!" said a trooper.

"It would be unwise of you to suggest that, for my compatriots are not restrained with triggers," said Friar Buck.

"I said-GAAAAAHHHH! AHHHHH!"

The lead trooper was caught by his leg in a trap, and his compatriots rushed to help, but fell through some leaves into a hole. Thorn then tossed a Thermal Detonator into the hole, and then shot the trooper in the trap. Bow continued to fire his arrows at Stormtroopers below, and Thorn continued to fight with a staff and her pistol. She dodged a Stormtrooper's melee attack before hitting another with an uppercut.

"Come on, bucketheads! Just gettin' warmed up 'ere!" said Munch.

Soon, the Imperials began to pull back from the fighting and back towards their line.

"Yeah that's right! Run!" said Munch.

"They retreat…. but why?" said Bow.

Thorn then looked up, seeing only clouds, but she gasped.

"BOMBARDMENT!"

Suddenly, several green turbolaser blasts came through the clouds and struck the village.

"BE AWARES! DOWN!" said Bow.

The Freedom Fighters and Militia scrambled to dodge the incoming blasts, but many were not quick enough as several blasts annihilated groups of militia and blasted several huts, trees, and struck areas of the walls, leaving holes for potential assault. Rob held Mari-An close as they kneeled, praying. Mari-An then looked up at him.

"M'love, if anything happens…"

"Words are unnecessary," said Rob.

The two of them then kissed as the bombardment raged on for what seemed to be minutes but was really seconds. Soon, the last shot struck the ground, and there was silence again.

"Much joy! They stopped!" said Alan.

"Only for now, brother Alan. Those varlets will resume their attack soon," said Bow.

"We have lost half our militia here, what do we do now?" said Thorn.

"Until the King gives us cause…we fight on," said Bow.

They soon heard marching through the thick smoke ahead, and the Freedom Fighters and town militia rallied their defense once more.

"THROWERS OF FLAMES!" said Alan.

Sure enough, several Imperial Flametroopers were leading the charge, and they begun using their flamethrowers on the defenders, setting several Militia on fire. The Freedom Fighters quickly rushed to return fire, dodging the flames in the process, Munch and Alan launched themselves at the Flametroopers, quickly planting some thermal detonators on their fuel tanks before getting clear of the impending explosion that took out several Flametroopers and Stormtroopers. But the Imperials just kept coming, with EVO Troopers joining the fight, and more.

"Be awares, they wear jetpacks!" said Bow.

"Bring 'em on! Flyin' don't mean tough!" said Munch.

The Jumptroopers flew towards the Freedom Fighters to support the rest of the Imperials' advance, as Thorn got into a melee with an EVO Trooper.

"Get off me, furball!" said the trooper.

Thorn responded by kicking the rifle out of his hands and shooting the trooper with it before using it on the other troopers. As this went on, Rob continued firing arrows from his perch, starting to take aim at one of the Jumptroopers and fired, striking the trooper's jetpack, causing it to malfunction and send him flying out of control into one of his comrades and exploding.

"M'love! Look!" said Mari-An.

Rob looked down, and saw several AT-PT, AT-DP, and AT-ST walkers advancing towards the village.

"Maddening…their mechs close in," said Rob.

The walkers opened fire on the defenders, Munch barely dodged some shots from an AT-ST, trying to get back up.

"Those…ain't so…tough," he said.

"Spare us the pride, brother!" said Alan.

"Do not break into song…" said Munch.

Rob took a deep breath, and looked up at the flag, lighting one more arrow.

"May thee souls be safe upon your leave," he said.

Rob then fired his arrow at the flag, setting it ablaze.

"The flag! It burns!" said Bow.

"Retreat! Get out while you still can! Hurry!" said Friar Buck.

The Freedom Fighters and militia began to retreat into the village with the Empire hot on their tails, as Gunships and IDTs began to fly in through the trees, dropping off more troops and providing fire support. Bow and the Freedom Fighters ran to a secret escape route in their hut, but Bow stopped and looked up at Rob, who simply nodded, and Bow nodded in turn, as they ran inside their hut through a hidden tunnel in the floor, with Bow going in last, shutting the door. The Imperial troops stormed the village, rounding up stragglers, with a whole platoon going after Rob and Mari-An. Rob continued to fire arrows as the Imperials closed in on him. Soon, the platoon surrounded him.

"Get down on your knees, fuzzball!"

Rob turned around slowly, and he saw Mari-An with the barrel of a blaster rifle to her head, and he calmly proceeded to throw down his bow and get down on his knees in surrender.

Outside the village, a door opened under the brush, and Bow, Thorn, Munch, Alan, and Friar Buck exited the tunnel.

"Where is the King?" said Thorn.

Bow and Friar Buck looked at each other dejectedly.

"I do not believe he nor Lady Mari-An are coming," said Friar Buck.

"What?" said Alan.

"They speak truth, brothers and sister…" said Munch.

They saw Munch looking out at the village with his electrobinoculars. He saw Rob and Mari-An in custody of the Imperial Forces.

"They….no…it can't be…" said Alan.

"They allowed themselves to be captured?" said Thorn.

"Verily…when he gave me this chip leading to sanctuary…that's when thou realized he intended to allow himself capture, to give us avenue of escape," said Bow.

"This is far from fair! We must go back for him!" said Munch.

"Thee shalt do no such thing, brother!" said Bow.

"I must agree, brother. That was not our decision to make back there, the King needed you to have confidence in the face of an army," said Friar Buck.

"T'was clearly the King's wish to allow us to escape at the expense of his freedom, to go back would dishonor that," said Bow.

"I pray for his well-being, we all know what Lord Hood will do…or worse," said Alan.

"In the meantime, we mustn't be consumed by doubts, we must abide by his command…find this sanctuary and pray help comes, or the other groups," said Bow.

Bow produced his locator and inserted the chip into it.

"The locator will show us the way," he said.

Friar Buck put his hand on Thorn's shoulder as she sobbed a bit.

"Do not be upset, child. The King and Queen know we will be safe, that gives them strength. We survive to fight another day, and a chance to find our allies and unite once more," he said.

"The Friar speakth truth; by my heart, the Freedom Fighters of Knothole may be lost, and the same may be true of many of our allies, but by my heart, I will not falter under the weight of our loss today, and neither will all of you. One day, we will get our home….and our king back someday…but we cannot do so alone. For now, let us ride to Robotropolis…and keep hoping for the best of things," said Bow.

Thorn, Munch, and Alan nodded, as Friar Buck smiled, and with that, Bow nodded as they set off on their long trek.

 _Fortress of Sub-Boss Lord Mordred Hood, Mercia-Avalon, Mobius_

Rob felt himself be shoved off the IDT as the Stormtroopers forced him to walk into the fortress, where many of the Mobian soldiers of Robotnik cheered in delight as he and Mari-An were forced to walk past them. They soon came to the throne room of the castle, where Lord Mordred Hood sat, looking at him with sadistic glee.

"Robert O'The Hedge…after so long, we finally meet again…old friend," said Lord Hood.

Rob didn't even make eye contact with Lord Hood, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor.

"Oh, come on…let me see you, after all this time."

Lord Hood got up off his throne and walked up to Rob, who still refused to look him in the eye. Lord Hood then hissed in anger and grabbed Rob's collar, forcing him to look at him.

"WHEN I ORDER YOU TO LOOK AT ME, YOU LOOK AT ME! YOUR KING!" said Lord Hood.

"King?" said Rob.

"Do I detect sarcasm in your voice, Robert?" said Lord Hood.

"Thy crown belongs to thou, traitor. And if thee were truly a king, thee would've faced thou on the field of battle…. instead…thou art forced to watch off-worlders do the work…of a coward."

Lord Hood proceeded to slap Rob across the face hard.

"You're lucky the Doctor decreed your life be spared. He'll demand you give up what you know…and then you be roboticized," said Lord Hood.

"Do as you will…. for your victory is hardly one," said Rob.

Suddenly, Rob proceeded to headbutt Lord Hood in the face, hard, causing his nose to bleed, and Rob laughed his hardest as the Stormtroopers proceeded to beat him down to the ground.

"Some time in a cell will change your attitude. TAKE HIM AWAY!" said Lord Hood.

The Stormtroopers dragged the laughing Rob along as Mordred Hood tended to his injury.


	6. Chapter 6: Braving the Conquering Storm

**Chapter 06: Braving the Conquering Storm**

 _Sapphire Corridor, Corundum Nebula, Lapis System  
_

The Freedom Fighters' starfighters exited hyperspace outside a large nebula on both sides of their path. The _Salvation_ , _Andromeda_ , and the captured freighter exited soon after.

"Welcome to the Lapis System, home of our peoples' third colony world, Sapphyrus," said Jericho.

"Now that's a thing of beauty," said Sonic.

"What could possibly be beautiful about zis…junkyard of a path?" said Antoine.

"Can it, Antoine! You're ruining my mood!" said Sonic.

"He…does have a point, Sonic. What's beautiful about all this junk floating around?" said Knuckles.

"That nebula. It's as blue as me," said Sonic.

Sally rolled her eyes.

"We're preparing to enter the Sapphire Corridor. It's the best path through the nebula without risking a crash. But it goes by another name it earned in the Clone Wars; Derecho Alley," said Jericho.

"For the starfighters we were using in ze days of old?" said Antoine.

"Yep," said Jericho.

"I remember reading about the Battle of Sapphyrus during the Clone Wars. Lot of engagements in this sector when the Separatists occupied the planet," said Sally.

"Why go through here? Can't we just go straight through the nebula?" said Tails.

"That nebula is dangerous enough as it is. It messes with sensors and there's so much ionized gasses and asteroids in there, large ships steer clear of it. It's hard enough to navigate in a smaller ship," said Jericho.

"That makes sense, better this way than through the nebula," said Sally.

"We're gonna run on sublight power for the rest of the way to Sapphyrus, debris makes Hyperspace travel too dangerous," said Jericho.

"You guys know where we're going. Lead the way," said Sally.

"Aw man…I hate going this slow. Boring," said Sonic.

"Sonic, if you're not gonna contribute anything useful, then please spare us your complaining," said Sally.

"Hmph."

 _Raiju Clan Fortress, Dragon Kingdom of Chun-nan, Mobius_

Imperial Troops were amassing within the fortress' walls, as Landing Craft and other shuttles delivered more troops and equipment. Atop the main tower of the fortress, a female Mobian lynx, the Bride of Conquering Storm was watching over the effort, but her face reeked with contempt.

"Hmph. Imperial scum, defiling our sacred lands! They think they can reach the Shijin Warriors before I can? Raiju Clan!"

The ninjas bowed.

"Yes, master?"

"I want you all to find the Shijin Warriors before the Imperials do. I want them, dead or alive! Do you understand?"

"Yes, master."

"Then move!"

"What of the Imperials? What if they find and capture them first?"

"Then you'd better make sure that you find them first. Surely you remember what happens to those who disappoint me," said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

The ninjas looked nervously at one another as another rushed in.

"Now go! Get out of my sight! What do you want?!"

"Sorry, master…but the Bride of Constant Vigil to see you. She is unarmed and alone," said the ninja.

The Bride of Conquering Storm shrugged.

"Bring her here, then."

Soon, the Bride of Constant Vigil, a female purple Mobian chameleon, walked calmly into the room, where the Bride of Conquering Storm gave a venomous stare.

"You have gall coming here," said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

"I see the off-worlders have not dulled your sense of honor," said the Bride of Constant Vigil.

"Is that what you call it? You forget that *I* am the Bride here, not you!"

"That may be so. But I've come to ask that if you succeed in capturing the Shijin Warriors, in the name of honor, you will not summarily execute them. Do not let these off-worlders smear our traditions."

"I will decide their fate! Don't tell me how to uphold our traditions! If they must be executed, then I will order their execution!"

"Do I have a word of honor? Or has your alliance with Dr. Robotnik blinded you?"

"The real question is...do you think you're in a position to negotiate with me now?"

"I could do so without any violence upon our sacred shrines. But you are correct when you say I am in no position to contest you."

The Bride of Conquering Storm glared into the other's eyes but did not lay a hand on the Bride of Constant Vigil.

"I will protect our land from these off-worlders, but they have agreed to snuff out the last of our enemies, if not any resistance. After today, no one will dare to challenge us! Robotnik has promised us that!"

"You keep telling yourself whatever helps you justify it. I will take my leave."

The Bride of Constant Vigil then left the fortress, not making eye contact with anyone as she walked out.

"Raiju Clan."

"Yes, master?"

"I want you to keep an eye on her. I don't trust her nor the other houses," said Conquering Storm.

"Yes, Master," said the Ninjas.

Outside the fortress, the Bride of Constant Vigil walked down the path, but soon, several more Mobian Chameleons revealed themselves. Without even looking at them, the Bride spoke.

"Shadow the Shijin Warriors...discreetly."

"What if we encounter resistance? Especially from the Raiju Clan?"

"Remember your training, and we will survive this," said the Bride of Constant Vigil.

"Yes, master."

 _Near the Shijin Temple, Dragon Kingdom of Chun-nan, Mobius_

Meanwhile, outside the Fortress, atop an old bell tower, we see a white female Mobian Tiger with a pair of macrobinoculars, observing all the activity going on within the fortress.

"This is even worse...than what we've heard…"

She then rappelled down from the tower and started running down a stone path. Eventually she reached a set of steps, and hustled up them, until eventually reaching a temple. Soon, she met with a female Mobian Dragon.

"What's going on out there, Jian?"

"The Imperial Military is setting up camp in the Raiju Fortress. Lots of soldiers, walkers, and mobile artillery."

"Oh boy...Are you sure? How many are 'lots'?"

"Enough to take down all four houses and still have room for the rest of the entire kingdom, Dulcy."

"Oh no... Let's gather the others & tell them what we need to do. Quickly."

Inside the shrine, a female Mobian turtle and a female Mobian Pheasant were meditating, but the latter was looking like she was trying not to fall asleep in the process.

"The cold Chi is getting closer…"

"I think I'm about to sneeze..."

"Bunker, Cinder, I hate to be blunt, but...it's time," said Dulcy.

"Yeah, we gotta clear out," said Jian.

"Is it time?" said Cinder.

"Jian just reported that there's an army out there that outnumbers us 100 to 1, and they're definitely the people she told us about," said Dulcy.

Did I say that? More like a thousand to one," said Jian.

"...Now you see why we need to leave? If we stay, it's likely we'll end up in a prison...or worse…"

"Be executed by the Raiju, which almost seems merciful compared to what these off-worlders will do to us," said Bunker.

"So take only what you gotta. We gotta travel light. I hope you gotta plan of somewhere to hide out, Dulcy," Jian said.

"Actually, we do have a place to go. That's the good news. But the bad news is, getting there won't be easy."

"What is it?" said Bunker.

"Oh, are we gonna travel? I get the window seat!" said Cinder.

"Sally had a contingency in place should Knothole & other Freedom Fighter hideouts be compromised. There's a hideout in Robotropolis that we built as a safehouse, I remember, because we built it during my time with the Knothole group. I've arranged for a transport shuttle to pick us up from the fishing village at the bottom of the mountain," said Dulcy.

"Wait...we gotta go into Robotropolis?"

"We have to, Jian; it's our best chance, if not our only one," said Dulcy.

"I heard Robotropolis is scary..." said Cinder.

"It is, Cindy, but we don't have a choice," said Dulcy.

"I hope your years over there will help us," said Jian.

Bunker than felt a cold chill down her spine.

"The cold Chi is growing colder. They're almost here! We need to leave!" she said.

"Are you sure of that?" said Jian.

They then heard several small explosions, & suddenly they saw blaster fire and throwing stars striking several areas nearby. Several smoke bombs were thrown into their home.

"AMBUSH!" said Dulcy.

Jian engaged the ninjas, stabbing one with her tail dagger, while shooting a few with her blaster pistols. Dulcy dusted off her clothes & body & saw a familiar face approaching them through the door, with several Raiju Clan Ninjas following.

"The Shijin Warriors. Time to meet your doom! Savor your pathetic lives...while you still can," said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

"You think we, let alone I, are gonna give up so easily, Connie?" said Dulcy.

"How DARE you insult my presence!"

"You hate off-worlders, yet you side with them just to get to us. Talk about hypocritical."

"You won't be able to accuse one of hypocrisy if you're dead!"

"Bring it, Connie."

The Shijin Warriors and Raiju Ninjas promptly engaged each other in combat.

"The Dragon is mine!" said the Bride of Conquering Storm.

Dulcy, grabbing a sword nearby, assumed a defensive stance.

"You want me? Come & get me!"

Dulcy and the Bride got into a fight as their forces fought on. They exchanged blows with their blades, sparks flying as metal met metal. The Bride slashed at Dulcy, grazing her torso, but Dulcy simply swiped at the Bride's own torso. The Bride & Dulcy engaged in a blade lock, gnashing their teeth.

"You have interfered with my plans for the last time!" said the Bride.

"Your plans? Those involve oppressing the good people of this kingdom?" said Dulcy.

"The Clans must be united by a strong leader!"

"By who? An outsider like Robotnik?"

"He gave us strength!"

"At the cost of your honor!

RRRARRGGGH!

Enraged, she pushed Dulcy & tried to slash but Dulcy blocked it, barely before it reached her neck. The Bride then did a sweeping kick to knock Dulcy down and held her under her foot and put her blade in Dulcy's face. The rest of the Shijin Warriors were surrounded by Raiju Ninjas.

"Surrender and swear fealty & I might let you live long enough to be my servant."

Dulcy glared defiantly at the Bride, but suddenly, the room shook violently. The Bride was almost thrown off balance.

"What-?!"

"They're firing artillery at us!" said one of the ninjas.

"It's not them, you idiots, it's the Imperials! Not that they know we're here, you know! Get out of here! Kill them-WHAT?! THEY'RE GONE!"

Sure enough, during the confusion from the Imperials' artillery barrage, the Shijin Warriors were gone like smoke. As soon as the Artillery stopped, Imperial Stormtroopers stormed the temple, seeing the dead ninjas all around. They also saw the Bride, clutching her earlier wound from her fight with Dulcy.

"You showed up late, they escaped and killed my best men in the process!" said the Bride.

The Stormtroopers looked all around the shrine.

" _There's no trace of them, sir,"_ said one of the Stormtroopers.

" _They escaped here,"_ said a Death Trooper.

The Death Trooper tapped the floor he was standing on and pulled open a secret trapdoor.

" _Entrance to secret tunnel,"_ said a ShadowBot.

" _Conduct a scan of this mountain,"_ said the Death Trooper.

Dulcy and the Shijin Warriors crawled through the small tunnel, with only boards for a floor and the scratchiness of the rocky walls against their sides, with only a lantern for light. They held each other's tails to ensure they didn't get separated.

"Next time we dig a tunnel, make it wider so we don't scratch up our arms here," said Jian.

"Well, it's a lot better than no tunnel at all, right?" said Dulcy.

"The cold Chi is still close," said Bunker.

"Where did you find her? Oh, wait...don't answer that," said Jian.

"We're almost to the end, once there, it's all downhill from there," said Dulcy.

"Yay! We can get out of the dark!" said Cinder.

They eventually reached the end of the tunnel, where Dulcy opened a small door, revealing a blinding light from outside, but their eyes slowly adjusted, but when they crawled out, several Stormtroopers emerged from the trees and trained their blaster rifles on them.

"Well…shoot," said Dulcy.

" _On the ground, Rebel Scum!"_

Dulcy took a slow, deep breath, but before she could do anything, one trooper was struck dead by a throwing star.

" _What the—ACK!"_

Another trooper then went down by a throwing star.

 _What's going-ACKKK!"_

Dulcy developed a smug grin on her face as the Stormtroopers went down one by one. She then saw in one of the trees, one of the chameleon members of the Shinobi clan faintly reveal himself to Dulcy and gave an acknowledging nod before disappearing again.

"Here's our chance! Let's move! Quickly!" said Dulcy.

"We have silent guardians, yay!" said Cinder

"The cold Chi is slowly getting warmer. There is still hope."

"C'mon, the road to the fishing village shouldn't be far," said Dulcy.

The Shijin Warriors headed towards the nearby road down the mountain.

At the tunnel exit, Imperial reinforcements surveyed the scene, as a Death Trooper removed a throwing star from the neck of a dead Stormtrooper.

" _How did this happen?"_

" _Massive amount of casualties. Cause of death: ninja throwing stars, unknown origin,"_ said a Shadowbot.

Nearby, the Bride of Conquering Storm was having her wounds tended to by another ninja.

"Master, you know we cannot definitively prove it was the Shinobi," said a ninja.

"And why can't we? It's obviously them!" said the Bride.

"Word of honor, master, we swore to honor the rules of combat here," said a ninja.

"If the off-worlders find out, they will kill us & the other Brides if they find out. And all our traditions will be destroyed. It's all we have left," said another ninja.

The Bride simply snarled indignantly.

The Shijin Warriors were walking down the road as the fishing village came into view ahead.

"I've heard the stories...but the Empire's brutality far outweighs Robotnik's," said Jian.

"Just what is the Empire capable of? How much worse are they than Robotnik?" said Dulcy.

"Lead by a being... cold Chi...pure evil... elsewhere...elusive," said Bunker.

"... That quote sounds familiar, for some reason," said Dulcy.

"It is true. The Empire is capable of many terrible things; they have many resources at their disposal, resources that even Robotnik couldn't get," said Bunker.

"Scary stuff?" said Cinder.

"Yeah. They have the largest military in the whole galaxy. That was only a small fraction,"

"Back there….is it just me or has the Bride of Conquering Storm got a bit more bloodthirsty?" said Dulcy.

"She has been consumed by the cold Chi; she is determined to uphold her own honor. She must despise the Empire if she tried to get us ahead of them, it's a miracle she still follows word of honor," said Bunker.

"Ah, there it is! Our transport! An air shuttle from the city!" said Dulcy.

"I hope our friends from Knothole are okay..." said Jian

"I hope so; that blackout was so sudden, I just hope they managed to escape. With luck, they're probably all waiting for us at that hideout as we speak. If not them, other Freedom Fighters," said Dulcy.

The shuttle pilot soon approached the Shijin Warriors.

"About time you showed up. You look like you just got out of a warzone,"

"We did. They arrived shortly after I sent the message," said Dulcy.

"Was expecting more luggage from you," said the pilot.

"What you see is all we have left. Now, is the shuttle ready for the trip to Robotropolis?" said Dulcy.

"They increased security recently but I think we can get there without any hiccups. It won't be a smooth ride but I think we'll be fine," said the pilot.

Dulcy turned around, and she saw a red female Mobian fox approaching them, waving.

"You're all safe! Thank goodness!"

"Li Moon! I almost thought you were gone! Where's your grandfather?" said Dulcy.

"My grandfather is not coming…"

"What? Oh no...you don't mean...?"

"The Raiju came by our village last night, they demanded he give you up...when he refused, some Imperial soldier in black armor shot him on the spot..."

"The Empire," said Dulcy.

"There was a black SWAT Bot variant too…"

"ShadowBots too? They executed him? Just like that?!"

Li Moon nodded and sniffed.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Li Moon...we should've been there…"

"But it's lucky they didn't get these…"

Li Moon pulled out a few small cards.

"Transit cards! At least these are safe," said Dulcy.

But where is Monkey Khan? Surely he would've helped to fight against the Imperials," said Bunker.

Li Moon lowered her head.

"They got him."

"What?! How?!" said Dulcy.

"I don't sense his Chi anywhere...it's cold...like death."

"The Imperials….they ambushed him and overpowered him….but they didn't kill him. I saw them load him up onto a transport,"

"But...'cold like death?' I don't...Ohhhh. Oh no. It's worse than death, is it?" said Dulcy.

Jian then saw a few Imperials and SWAT Bots down the street.

"Last call. We leaving or not? Li Moon?" she said.

I'm better off with you than here…" said Li Moon.

"It'll be alright. Your grandfather will rest easily when the Empire is defeated. Now let's get on board & get out of here," said Dulcy.

Everyone quickly boarded the shuttle and as soon as they were seated, their pilot took the controls and the shuttle departed for Robotropolis.


	7. Chapter 7: Leadership

**Chapter 07: Leadership**

 _Sapphyrus, The Third Colony of Mobius, Lapis System_

Sonic and Sally saw the planet come into view as they exited Derecho Alley.

"Sapphyrus...have you ever seen a planet that looks so clean?" said Sally.

"You said it, Sal. Good to see ol' 'Buttnik ain't got his stench on all our colonies," said Sonic.

"We're gonna land at an old Acorn Military Base outside the city of Port Sapphire," said Jericho.

"Ah, most wonderful, ze home of fine eclairs and ze old Knights of ze St. Acorn fortress on ze Lake of Adele," said Antoine.

"Why Antoine, ah do declare y'all know quite a bit 'bout this place," said Bunnie.

"But of course, my fathair always wanted to take moi here once," said Antoine.

"I'm looking forward to being able to run two-handed and fifty kilometers to start the day without running into Buzz Bombers," said Sonic.

Amy rolled her eyes.

"Aw, brother…"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Sally.

The Freedom Fighters and Rebels flew towards the planet, with the _Salvation, Andromeda,_ and the captured freighter following close behind. They entered the atmosphere and as soon as they got through the cloud cover, they saw a city ahead.

"There's Port Sapphire," said Jericho.

"Looks great from up here," said Tails.

"Off to the far left, you see Lake Adele, and the old Knight Fortress," said Kirk.

"Just as my father described it," said Sally.

"And just ahead is our landing site, the old base," said Ross.

"Supposed to get decommissioned and turned into a museum, like the fortress was, but our superiors had other ideas for it when we started operations. Base control, this is Commander Raccoon, requesting landing clearance," said Jericho.

" _Transmit clearance code, Commander."_

"Transmitting."

Jericho pressed a button on his Y-Wing's control panel.

" _Clearance granted. Approach Hangar Bay 2. Salvation, you're cleared to dock at Docking Bay 1."_

"Copy, control, starting landing cycle," said Jericho.

" _Copy control, initiating final approach,"_ said Dayton.

" _Corvette Andromeda and Freighter Omega 7, you may land on the landing strip."_

" _Copy that, control,"_ said Geoffrey.

" _Affirmative, control,"_ said A.J.

The starfighters slowed and extended their landing struts, slowly flying into the hangar bay, landing gently inside. The _Salvation_ flew by the hangars and slowly turned right, descending towards a docking port. Several tractor beams engaged as the engines powered down, guiding the ship in. As soon as it reached its proper position, several docking arms and moorings locked onto the ship's hull, locking it in place. The _Andromeda_ and the freighter slowly flew until they were aligned with the landing strip and gently touched down on the landing strip.

The Freedom Fighters and Rebels were exiting their fighters as Jericho saw a middle aged female Mobian dog, a younger female Mobian dog was by her side, alongside an older female Mobian anteater. The older one approached Jericho.

"Jericho, welcome back. We feared the worst when we heard about Knothole."

"Not to worry, Captain, it was your training that got me out of that," said Jericho.

"Ah, Princess, at last we meet. Captain Nora McCormick, at your service."

"Nora McCormick….yes, of course!" said Sally.

Sonic was confused as he saw Sally and Nora shake hands.

"Sal…"

"Oh, sorry, Sonic. This is Nora McCormick, the first female commissioned officer in the Acorn Military? Oh, wait. I'm talking to the guy who spends more time running than he does reading about history," said Sally.

"Hey, I can read!" said Sonic.

"Uh, huh. Right," said Sally.

"And you're Sonic the Hedgehog. No need for introductions. Everyone here knows who you are," said Nora.

"The one and only, ma'am! You in charge 'round here?" 

"Nope, I'm one of the seniors, but not in charge of this cell. I'm here to take you to them," said Nora.

"And over here, this is Molly and Daisy, the Captain's two daughters," said Jericho.

"Welcome! Welcome, Princess! It is such an honor to have you here! I'm Daisy McCormick! It's so awesome!" said Daisy.

"I can see that...you bear quite a resemblance to your mom here," said Sally.

"Daisy, take it easy, sis."

"Sorry, Molly, but aren't you excited?! Meeting royalty?!"

"What did she say, Daisy?" said Nora.

"Sorry, ma," said Daisy.

Jericho laughed as Molly approached Sally, who noticed Molly's legs were crude prosthetics below the knees.

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess. No long face jokes, please. You think horses have a love/hate relationship with them? Anteaters have the same thing," said Molly.

"Don't plan to. Just don't give Sonic ideas," said Sally.

"I'm still right here, Sal!" said Sonic.

Sally turned to the rest of the Freedom Fighters.

"Everyone, this is Captain Nora McCormick and her daughters Daisy and Molly. Captain, we have Miles 'Tails' Prower, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Rotor Walrus, Bunnie Rabbot, Cream the Rabbit, and Antoine…"

"D'Coolette. Yes, Armand D'Coolette's little boy," said Nora.

"Great, Ant's famous with these people," said Sonic.

"Pardon moi, but have we met before?" said Antoine.

"I believe we have, Antoine, I worked with your father many years ago, it's too bad he fell victim to the Roboticizer," said Nora.

"Oui, I am knowing who you are, I am just...not of memory being good," said Antoine.

Nora turned to Tails.

"Prower….as in Amadeus Prower?"

Tails felt his heart skip a beat.

"That was my dad's name, what's it to you?"

"Worked with him, too, many years ago," said Nora.

"You did?"

"That's a whole other lifetime, kid. Either way, it's good to have you all with us," said Nora.

"I know, isn't it exciting, mother?" said Daisy.

"Exciting? People are dying back home, I don't think 'exciting' is the word I'd choose to describe things," said Milena.

Everyone turned to see Milena approach with Dayton, Geoffrey, Seraphine, A.J., and one more female Mobian Hedgehog.

"Oh...sorry, ma'am….DAYTON!"

Daisy ran towards Dayton and gave him a hug.

"Dayton, you're back! We missed you too!"

"Whoa, Daisy, calm down, will ya?! Not in front of the kids!" said Dayton.

Daisy then saw Dayton's bracelet, and then slowly released him.

"Sorry, forgot, but only because you're my friend," said Daisy.

"No biggie, hey, Mol."

"Good to see you, Dayton. Milena, Geoff," said Molly.

"And Ms. Nasler and her family have joined us too," said Nora.

"However mistaken I keep saying that is," said Jericho.

"You remember my brother A.J., and my...little sister, Naomi," said Seraphine.

"I turn my back on these two while I'm sleeping, and Seraphine doesn't even bother to say 'hello' when I wake up, what am I to her?" said Naomi.

"I said I was sorry, Naomi, geeze," said Seraphine.

Everyone laughed a bit.

"I don't see Derek, is he off visiting his family?" said Jericho.

"Yeah, he's been dying to see his sister and her family, let 'em know he's okay," said Milena.

"Good. He needs some family time," said Dayton.

"Okay, now, I'm sure you're all anxious to meet who's in charge. So follow me, we're going to that large house on the hill over there," said Nora.

"Heh, I could get there in about...17 seconds," said Sonic.

Sally rolled her eyes again.

"This way to the speeders, come on now," said Molly.

"So, you and your family seem tight with Captain McCormick and her family," said Rotor.

"Yeah, she was my father's XO years ago," said Jericho.

"She's the closest thing Jericho and I had to a mother," said Dayton.

Everyone climbed into the Seraph-class speeders that were parked outside the hangar, except Sonic, who just stood there, stretching.

"Don't worry about Sonic, he's not one for letting anyone go fast for him," said Sally.

"I'll make it easy on you guys," said Sonic.

The speeders had only barely started to move when Sonic darted off, only for him to come back around and keep pace with the speeders as they went towards a very lavish home built onto the top of a grassy hill overlooking the city. There were a few trees planted around the building, and a large garden was visible on the side of the structure that was visible to the Freedom Fighters. Eventually, the speeders pulled up next to the front gate, and everyone disembarked.

"Nice house, hope they got good chili dogs," said Sonic.

"Sonic, you are impossible," said Sally.

"Thank you, thank you," said Sonic.

"Hmm...I swear this looks like something I read about," said Naomi.

Captain McCormick and her daughters escorted the Freedom Fighters through the main gate and through the main entrance of the house, and they soon arrived in the drawing room of the house.

"Stay here. We'll get everyone," said Nora.

As the Captain and her daughters left the Freedom Fighters alone, Sonic sat on the couch and put his feet up on the table, but Sally simply walked up to him and gently placed them on the floor.

"Show a little courtesy, Sonic, we're houseguests," said Sally.

"Wonder who lives here?" said Amy.

"Must be very nice people," said Cream.

"Trust me, they're good people," said Milena.

"Hey, Sally-girl, check this out, this portrait of your dad," said Bunnie.

Sally walked over to the wall and looked at the portrait of her father, staring inquisitively, seeing the markings of the paint brush that painted the many colors meshed together with signs of a gentle stroke.

"Uh, Sal? You okay?" said Sonic.

"Huh? Oh, sorry...it's just...it's just...I know I've seen this painting before," said Sally.

"Huh? It's just a painting of your dad, Sal. There were probably tons of 'em in the castle when we were kids," said Sonic.

"I know that, Sonic. It's just...I remember this one...my father showed it to me, said he was giving it to a friend of his…," said Sally.

"'I shall stand by my convictions," said the Lord Acorn. "Henceforth, I shall show that to all in this duel.' 'And in what way do you intend to duel, my lord?'" said a voice.

Sally grinned as she felt the response come from her heart.

"'By dueling with honor. That will be our family's credo for generations to come.'"

Sally turned to an old female Mobian python who was slithering into the room with a male Mobian anaconda by her side.

"That was always a great story, dear. You remembered. Sally, dear, so wonderful to finally see you again after so many years."

"I could say the same about you, Lady Saffron. You have no idea how I feel right now, to see you're alive," said Sally.

"As am I, dear," said Lady Saffron.

"Uhh...Sal? Introduction, please?" said Sonic.

"Oh, sorry. Sonic the Hedgehog, meet Lady Saffron Laurent, and her husband...Indigo, right?"

"Very good, you remembered me too, eh?" said Indigo.

"Anyway, Lady Saffron used to represent Mobius on the Galactic Senate many years ago. She was nominated by my grandfather Frederick and served my father through the Clone Wars," said Sally.

"The famous Sonic the Hedgehog, yes, your reputation precedes you," said Lady Saffron.

"The one and only, your ladyship. Any friend of Sal is friends of mine," said Sonic.

"You're Jules and Bernadette Hedgehog's little boy. And Sir Charles' nephew," said Lady Saffron.

"Wait, you knew my parents? And my Uncle Chuck?" said Sonic.

"Course, son. You see, we've known your family for 'bout thirty years now, since the Naboo Blockade," said Indigo.

Lady Saffron turned to examine the rest of the Freedom Fighters.

"Quite a group of distant familiarity….let's see…"

"Oh, sorry. We have Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Rotor Walrus, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine D'Coolette, and Knuckles the Echidna," said Sally.

"Amadeus & Rosemary Prower's son….Sherman Walrus' boy….and Armand D'Coolette's boy. Quite a surprise indeed," said Lady Saffron.

Antoine gasped.

"Oui! Lady Laurent...Bonjour! It iz such a marvelous thing to be seeing you aftair so long!" said Antoine.

"You know her, too, Antoine?" said Rotor.

"Oui, she was ze dear friend of my fathair for ze many of years!" said Antoine.

"Yes, a fine man, he was," said Lady Saffron.

"Mi amora, where are the children?" said Indigo.

"Yes, quite right...children! Please enter! Come meet our guests!" said Lady Saffron.

Soon, three female Mobian snakes and one male Mobian snake, as well as a male Mobian dog entered the room to join in.

"Meet our family. Our oldest daughter Soledad, and her husband, David Carrera," said Lady Saffron.

Jericho approached David as soon as he was able to.

"Good to see you again, you old dog. Brother," said Jericho.

"Aye, you too, brother. Shoulda guessed you'd end up in the middle o' things as usual, brother," said David.

"Hey, Davey-boy, good to see ya, brother," said Geoffrey.

"Likewise, brother," said David.

"Good to see you too, Soledad," said Jericho.

"Thank you, Commander. Princess, it's an honor we finally meet in person," said Soledad.

"The honor is all mine, Lady Soledad," said Sally.

"My mother has that 'Lady' prefix. Just 'Soledad' will do for me, Princess," said Soledad.

"And you, Mr. Carrera, I take it you and Jericho are tight?"

"'Captain' Carrera, Princess. And aye, known this one since he was a small one, right, mother?"

Sally turned to see Nora nodding.

"You're Captain McCormick's son?"

"Aye."

"That explains a bit. You're all family," said Sally.

"Soledad has also been managing our cell for the last five years," said Lady Saffron.

"What? I thought you were leading?" said Sonic.

"Oh, no...not at my age. When Bail Organa...rest peacefully, approached us in regards to fighting with the Rebellion, I knew this fight was Soledad's turn. I already endured a lifetime of wartime, it was time to let her take the reins, so yes. Soledad is the official political leader of our cell," said Lady Saffron.

"Though that hasn't stopped you from being my consolignere, mother," said Soledad.

"That I can do," said Lady Soledad.

Sally was approached by another female Mobian snake wearing a bandanna on her head.

"There is such blissful harmony today...I can feel the positive vibes of energy making it all feel...complete."

"This is my middle daughter, Claes," said Lady Saffron.

"Bliss to meet you...really digging the positive vibes, Princess," said Claes.

"I beg your pardon?" said Sally.

"Oh, don't mind her, Princess...my sister lives in a strange reality, she's...unusual...but her heart is firmly in the right place," said Soledad.

"Soledad...don't you see? We are in the presence of two people who emanate the most positive vibe that I have felt in years! No wonder people back home are following them!" said Claes.

Sally nervously laughed, but Sonic simply grinned.

"Finally, someone who understands that I am the embodiment of 'cool'!" said Sonic.

The other Freedom Fighters just rolled their eyes.

"And this is our son, Indigo, Jr.," said Lady Saffron.

"And another friend of me and Geoffrey," said Jericho.

"Indeed, brother. Dayton, good to see you, old buddy," said Indigo, Jr.

Dayton laughed as he and Indigo, Jr. hugged each other.

"Jericho, can you believe I had to stand up for this guy when we were kids?" said Dayton.

"I was there, Dayton, you don't gotta remind me," said Jericho.

"Not just family, but friends too, just like the Freedom Fighters," said Sally.

"And finally, my youngest daughter Viola. She's the majordomo of our estate," said Lady Saffron.

"A pleasure to finally host royalty after so many years, Princess," said Viola.

"I'm humbled, but out here, the only royalty is mother nature. 'The Humble Acorn'," said Sally.

"Good," said Lady Saffron.

Antoine whispered into Bunnie's ear.

"Ze lady used be ze teachair of literature."

"Ah can tell, the way Sally is citin' her quotes," said Bunnie.

"Lady Saffron, I have a question," said Sally.

"You want to know how we survived?" said Lady Saffron.

"Yes. Robotnik's propaganda said you were dead," said Sally.

"No surprise for that. I was here because Soledad and David were getting married," said Lady Saffron.

"Which is also how I managed to avoid capture," said Nora.

"When we heard the news, we were basically marooned. We lost almost everything back home, and we knew if we went back, we would be Roboticized or killed," said Indigo.

"So we stayed here for the next five years, until Senator Bail Organa found us and persuaded us to join the Rebel cause, despite there being only twenty of us," said Lady Saffron.

"It hasn't been easy, but we got a planet full of refugees and in relative security due to the nebulae, it was worth doing," said Nora.

"And we found these guys, too," said Indigo, Jr.

Dayton and Jericho grinned as they held hands with Indigo, Jr. and and David in a group hug. At that moment, a servant droid walked in and rang a dinner bell.

"Dinner is served, mother. Let us continue this conversation in the dining hall," said Viola.

"Indeed, dear, you all must be hungry," said Lady Saffron.

"Oh boy, I hope you got-OW! Sal!" said Sonic.

Sally had elbowed Sonic before he could finish his sentence.

"I hope we're not late, everyone," said a voice.

Everyone turned as two male Mobian Echidnas walked in, both yellow in color, one was clearly of old age, the other appeared to be in his mid-30s, like David was.

"Marquand, Irvin, glad to see you two made it," said Nora.

"Thank you, dear," said Marquand.

Knuckles froze a bit, confusing Tails.

"Everyone, this is my husband Marquand, and his son, Irvin. Marquand, this is Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn and their band of Freedom Fighters from back home," said Nora.

"Ah, yes, the famous Sonic and Princess Sally. The pleasure is all mine," said Marquand.

"Heh, glad to see everyone knows me," said Sonic.

Marquand then turned to see Knuckles, and his eyes narrowed a bit.

"It can't be...the Guardian?" said Marquand.

Knuckles was confused.

"I'm afraid you've lost me there, sir," said Knuckles.

"You're Knuckles, aren't you? The Guardian of Angel Island? At least the current one, if I'm not mistaken. You're Locke's boy, ain't you?" said Marquand.

"That's my father's name, how do you know him? Not many people do," said Knuckles.

"Know him? I've worked with him in the past when he was Guardian, boy. And judging by the way you were eying me, you know who I am," said Marquand.

"Why, of course. You're the famous trader who fought in the Clone Wars! You're former Senator Topol's cousin! Yeah!" said Knuckles.

"Uhh...little help here? Me and the readers are lost by now," said Sonic.

"Senator Topol, he was the Senator for the Echidna people and my co-worker on the Senate. Marquand was his cousin. But we've known Marquand for a long time, since the Naboo Blockade," said Lady Saffron.

"Careful, father. You know those Guardians are spooks, they could have this room wired or this kid wired," said Irvin.

"Huh?" said Knuckles.

"Oh, don't mind him, boy. We have much to discuss at dinner. After you, Lady Saffron," said Marquand.

"Of course, let us adjourn to the dining room," said Lady Saffron.

As everyone walked from the drawing room to the dining room, Sonic whispered to Sally.

"Boy, there sure are a lotta people here," said Sonic.

"I, for one, find they're a lot like us, Sonic. They're friends and family, trying to survive, and they got a good operation going with what they had, like we did. I look forward to learning more about this," said Sally.

"That'll be a bunch of other stories in themselves," said Sonic.

Dr. Robotnik stood inside his control room, which displayed a large map of Mobius, as he observed the troop movements across the various regions of Mobius. Robonik grinned with delight.

"Oh, this is good...Snively, report," said Robotnik.

"Everything is on schedule, sir. We've routed at least three Freedom Fighter groups and wiped out several others, within the next few days, we'll have routed or destroyed the last of them," said Snively.

"Excellent," said Robotnik.

"Even now, Admiral Kreeshkin reports that our forces are converging on Sand Blast City, and are meeting stiff resistance. Your orders, sir?"

"That pitiful speck of a city means nothing of value anymore….I want nothing left but a crater. Not even an ant is allowed to survive it,"

"Yes, sir. I also received a message, sir. The Emperor commands you to make contact with him," said Snively.

Robotnik felt his heart skip a beat and it felt like all the blood in his body just stopped moving for a second. He almost forgot to breathe. He then got out of his chair.

"Very well. Optimize the transmitter signal to Coruscant," said Robotnik.

"Yes, sir," said Snively.

Robotnik went into a nearby room and walked towards the large holoprojector, and he kneeled down. Soon, the holoprojector activated, and the image of Emperor Sheev Palpatine appeared before Robotnik.

"Emperor Palpatine, it has been too long, my lord," said Robotnik.

 _"Moff Robotnik, I've read the report that you are currently cleansing the planet of the Mobian resistance in wake of your failure at Yavin,"_ said the Emperor.

"I was merely doing my duty in service to the Empire. The outcome was...unfortunate," said Robotnik.

 _"That failure was not yours. Your failure was how you allowed a boy and the Acorn heiress to establish a network that was ripe for the Rebellion to align with. It is a sign of weakness if a child is able to overcome someone like you, Doctor,"_ said the Emperor.

"Yet they were able to escape your soldiers' custody as easily as they could have escaped mine," said Robotnik.

 _"Beside the point, Doctor. The point is, your neglect allowed them to make contact with the Rebellion, and their leaders are still on the run. What do you have to say for yourself?"_ said the Emperor.

"If I had more time, they would've been wiped out by my own hand! But from what I see, your men failed to stop the Rebel cell from becoming a threat in the first place!" said Robotnik.

 _"Your words do not make a good case for yourself, Doctor,"_ said the Emperor.

"They know nothing about my project, there was no data trail linking any of my activities to it! Their destruction of my chemical plant may have set it back, but I still possess the means to produce what's necessary," said Robotnik.

 _"I hope so, Doctor, for your sake. I am eager to see what your weapon is capable of doing,"_ said the Emperor.

"Oh, yes, my lord. Once it is complete, I will have complete control over all the colonies of Mobius-ACK!"

Robotnik felt his neck begin to tighten, making it harder to breathe.

 _"You forget your place, Doctor...you serve me...therefore, the Mobia Sector is mine, and that also means all worlds of the Empire are mine….MINE!"_

"NO! DON'T! MERCY!"

Robotnik suddenly felt his neck tighten to the point he couldn't even breathe.

 _"Do not worry, I'm not going to kill you; I still have plenty of use for you. But should you have any thoughts of betrayal…"_

Robotnik then felt pressure all over his body, right down to the bones of his skeleton, almost as if he was in a crusher. Robotnik then felt himself fly backwards, smashing into the wall and landing on the cold metal floor, coughing up blood and gasping for breath.

 _"Do not forget who gave you this planet, Doctor. Do not forget who your Emperor is. As punishment for your failures, I am revoking our agreement. My Inquisitor will be en route to Mobius to oversee your efforts. From now on, he is my eyes and ears on your activities on this planet,"_ said the Emperor.

Robotnik's fist clenched at the mention of the title.

"My lord….is that...really necessary? Your Inquisitors could not stop the two Jedi from Lothal, what makes you think he will be any more successful!?"

 _"Do not test my patience, Doctor. You will grant him whatever accommodation is necessary, and you will work with him flawlessly. Do not make me reconsider replacing you. And if I must replace you, you will suffer until you are begging for a quick death that will not come. Is that understood?"_ said the Emperor.

Robotnik sighed in frustration.

"Yes, my lord...Mobius was a gift. I will not squander it further."

" _Good. I expect the last pockets of resistance to be wiped out by the time he arrives. Is that understood?"_ said the Emperor.

"Yes, Emperor Palpatine," said Robotnik.

The transmission then ended, and Robotnik thought for a moment, and then he punched a nearby wall out of frustration. He then walked back to the control room. Snively turned around.

"Sir, may I ask what the Emperor wanted?" said Snively.

Robotnik looked down at Snively.

"We have lost the Emperor's favor, Snively. That Hedgehog's humiliation of us means that snake will be returning after all these years…"

Snively's eyes widened.

"What?! Over our dead bodies, sir! I will not allow either of us to be replaced by anyone, let alone that….that….thing! Well...mostly just you, you miserable toad…"

"WHAT WAS THAT, SNIVELY?!"

"Nothing, sir."

"Good. Inform Admiral Kreeshkin and our commands that I am rescinding my restrictions on many of the cities on the planet. I want them to burn down anyone and anything those vermin have ever come into contact with, I don't care if they even breathed or even passed by there for five seconds...I want them gone. I want nobody even thinking of trying to follow in his example. And if anyone survives….Roboticize them."

"Very good, sir. I shall inform the Admiral at once."

Robotnik sat back down in his chair.

"I'll teach these vermin what happens when they make a fool out of me…."


	8. Chapter 8: Pain

**Chapter 8: Pain**

 _Somewhere in the Downunda Outback, Continent of Tralius, Mobius_

Several people gathered around tents in a small crevasse in the middle of the desert, as the heat of the day resonated even as the sky turned dark, with only a few fires being lit as food was being cooked. Near one tent, a group of Mobians gathered, a male wallaby, a female koala, a male platypus, a male wombat, and a male emu, all gathered around their fire.

"A'right, we'll give these folks a few hours o' sleep, this crevasse provides good cover."

"But Walt, how much longer 'ave we got?"

"One more day's hike from 'ere, Barby. My contact will be waitin' on the other side o' that ridge. Might make it there faster if we keep up a faster pace. Once we get there, we stick to that plan Sally gave me for times like this," said Walt.

"What about those… 'Imperial' off-worlders? Bill?" said Barby.

"Last recon sweep, me and Wombat Stu we saw that they're slowed down due to the rough terrain, their air patrols will have a hard time spotting us due to these dust storms we've been having," said Bill.

"But when I did my sweep, I saw those big walking mechs…," said Wombat Stu.

"How big?" said Bill.

"Much bigger than those smaller ones, like the terrain doesn't bother them!" said Wombat Stu.

"Don't worry so much. Lots of crevasses, ditches, and unstable rock formations. We also know the terrain here. We have home advantage, wouldn't worry 'bout it too much, mate," said Walt.

"Okay…" said Wombat Stu.

"Don't presume anything….the Dreamtime is all disrupted by the arrival of these offworlders...nothing's gonna happen as it should...a dark aura guides them…."

"Guru's at it again with that…," said Bill.

"So, Walt, we move before sunrise?" said Barby.

"Yeah. Let's let these folks sleep, it's been a hard few days march. Once we get 'em to safety, we'll head out to Robotropolis. Ain't been there in a long time….heard it's lovely this time o' year….ugh," said Walt.

"Now that you mention it...I could use a bit of shut-eye myself," said Wombat Stu.

"Get some rest, then. We need it," said Walt.

"Now pay attention Basil & Summer, Chao require the utmost care," said Cream.

Two young Mobian snakes were sitting in front of Cream, who held Cheese in her hands. They were staring inquisitively at Cheese.

"Chao," said Cheese.

"A Chao grows through love, and whomever raises one will determine how it's developed. They love it when you pet them, go ahead, Cheese won't mind, won't you, Cheese?"

"Chao, chao," said Cheese.

"Wow….it almost looks like it's made of water…." said Basil.

"They do, but they're really soft. Don't be afraid," said Cheese.

Basil slowly reached out with his three-fingered, mechanical tail hand, but when Cheese saw it, he flinched a bit and huddled against Cream.

"Chao…." he said.

"Don't be afraid, Cheese, he's not going to hurt you…" said Cream.

"Daddy, the Chao is scared of me," said Basil.

"It's okay, son. Poor thing probably ain't never seen nothin' like that before," said David.

"Mr. Carrera, why does Basil have that weird hand on his tail? I saw Mrs. Carrera had one too," said Cream.

"Oh, it's just a condition some Mobian snakes have, they're simply called 'limbless ones,' his 'ma and his gram' have it," said David.

"It's some kind of genetic thing, right?" said Tails.

"Ya, it is," said David.

Amy walked over and sat next to Cream and petted Cheese.

"It's okay, Cheese, Basil didn't mean to scare you," said Amy.

"Can...can I try?" said Summer.

"Sure, Summer," said Cream.

Cheese looked very nervous as Summer gently raised her own hand and slowly moved it towards Cheese's head. Cheese still looked nervous, but then, Amy slowly reached out and pushed two of Summer's fingers back, leaving only one extended. Summer was confused by this, but soon, Cheese slowly hovered towards Summer's finger and after looking at it for a bit, slowly touched it with a smile.

"Chao," said Cheese.

"See? He just needs to know you're not gonna hurt him," said Cheese.

Summer continued nuzzling Cheese, and she turned to Claes.

"Mom, look at me!" said Summer.

"That is a very blissful moment, sweetie...live up any time with a Chao, they're one of the most precious things our planet doesn't fully appreciate the way Cream here does," said Claes.

"Thank you, Miss Laurent. Basil, why don't you try again? Do what Summer is doing," said Cream.

"Yeah, go ahead, cousin," said Summer.

Basil slowly reached out to Cheese again, but this time holding out one finger, just as Summer did. Cheese turned and after a bit of thinking, slowly hovered towards Basil's finger and hugged it. Basil slowly smiled.

"There you go, cuz! See?" said Summer.

"Yeah!" said Basil.

Basil turned to the door leading to a balcony.

"Mommy, look it!"

Soledad, out on the balcony with Lady Saffron and Sally, turned to see him with Cheese.

"That's very good, sweetheart! You be nice to that Chao, Cream was very nice to let you play with him, don't spoil it now, okay?" said Soledad.

"Yes, mommy!" said Basil.

Soledad turned back to Sally and Lady Saffron.

"My son...he needs to enjoy all the wonderful things in life, even at times like this," said Soledad.

"We all do, otherwise, what are we fighting for?" said Sally.

"Indeed," said Lady Saffron.

"Which leads me to my biggest concern now...if the Empire finds out this planet is a staging area...you know they'll invade," said Sally.

"Trust me, dear, we're not naive to that possibility. We're perfectly prepared to flee if the situation calls for it. We don't keep enough here to call it a staging area, more of a safe place to recuperate. But otherwise, we only maintain what we need to keep our cell operational." said Lady Saffron.

"Yes, we always keep our _Levante_ shuttle fueled and ready to flee at a moment's notice. It's in the hangar in the basement of this building. And we have a safe room in the library for when things get hot," said Soledad.

"But, don't think this operation had it easy in seclusion, Robotnik has directed his forces to harass us or harass any convoy ships supplying this colony, and in our first year and a half, we had to buy our own equipment, including Jericho's ship, the _Storm Ranger_. We didn't even start receiving Z-95s until later the following year. Only within the last year we've caught up, equipment wise, with the rest of the Rebellion," said Lady Saffron.

"Sounds like how we had to do it back home, we had to use hand-me-down equipment and scavenge for years, at least until you began supplying us through Jericho & Geoffrey," said Sally.

"Which brings us to our next subject, Sally. Now that you're here…"

"When can we expect you to ascend to the throne?" said Soledad.

Sally felt a sharp stinging in her heart.

"Excuse me?" said Sally.

"Soledad…"

"No, mother, let me speak here. This needs to be addressed anyway, owing to Sally's status as the sole surviving heir to the throne, you know," said Soledad.

"I have no plans of ascending to the throne anytime soon, Soledad. There isn't even a Kingdom for me to lead right now, not the way things are now," said Sally.

"Princess, this isn't just about leadership, it's about morale. Our people need a figure, a symbol, a beacon of hope. They need to know that your family is not dead, and that you're ready to lead them against Robotnik and the Empire," said Soledad.

"Firstly, I already did that on my own, the Rebellion simply adds to that image. Secondly, I can't ascend the throne because my father is alive," said Sally.

"Your father? Alive?" said Lady Saffron.

"Yes. I know it. My father is alive," said Sally.

"Oh, of course...that mission to Ironlock Prison in the Dark Swamp, I've read Geoffrey's report on that matter. You found an old computer and a piece of cloak. That doesn't prove anything, Sally," said Soledad.

"Yes it does. That cloak piece is from a one-of-a-kind weave. I'd recognize it anywhere. He was there, I know it," said Sally.

"It's not that we don't believe you, dear. All Soledad is saying is that the evidence is circumstantial at best, and we ourselves haven't found anything to the contrary," said Lady Saffron.

"If Robotnik had killed him already, he would never keep that a secret, we'd have known by now," said Sally.

"The Empire would. It's the kind of tactic they've used to fool many of our other cells. They kill a person of importance, and use that person as bait. Maybe the Empire is just waiting for the right moment to use that as bait for you," said Soledad.

"She's not wrong about that, Sally," said Lady Saffron.

Sally paused for a moment. The memory of seeing Alderaan destroyed, combined with what Soledad said, that didn't seem so farfetched to her. But Sally stood firm, she looked at Soledad again.

"If that turns out to be true...then I….I will just…"

"Soledad, you know that even if this is the right course, she's still not of age," said Lady Saffron.

"That's an unwritten bylaw, mother. Nothing says she's not allowed to take the throne due to age," said Soledad.

"Even so, we cannot force Sally to do it, even if the law demands it," said Lady Saffron.

Soledad opened her mouth, but no words came out. She simply sighed.

"Yes, mother. You're right. Princess, I wasn't trying to offend you, but you understand where I'm coming from with this, right?" said Soledad.

"Yes, Soledad, I know. But you gotta understand; it's not that I don't want to take the throne, it's that I will not take the throne because I know, in my heart, that my father is still out there somewhere. But you are right about one thing, the Empire may try to use him or my connection to him as a way to get at me. But as long as I believe he is alive, then I will not rest until I find him and bring him back to us. However, if I'm wrong, and he truly is dead….then I will take my responsibility and assume the throne if there's no other way. But until I see with my own two eyes that he is no longer alive, then I will keep that throne open, as it brings me hope that he is alive, and that, my friends, gives me the strength to go on," said Sally.

Lady Saffron and Soledad looked at each other and Lady Saffron nodded with a smile, and Soledad finally nodded back.

"Very well, Princess. If that is what you want, then I will try to respect your wishes. I just remain skeptical that you will find him alive, if you pardon my choice of words," said Soledad.

"He is alive. I know it," said Sally.

"And I promise you that I will try to support you on that matter as best I can," said Soledad.

"As will I," said Lady Saffron.

"Thank you, both of you. I know you all need hope for our people, but I need hope too, and if I'm right about this...then it will bring hope for all of us," said Sally.

"I'm all for hope and inspiring and all that, but when can we get back to doing what we should be doing best? Busting SWAT Bot and Stormtrooper butts?"

Sally rolled her eyes and groaned loudly as she looked up on the roof of the overhang, where Sonic was lounging.

"Sonic, how long have you been up there?" said Sally.

"Since I finished my first eighty kilometer-long jog on this planet. Just when you ladies started talking about stuff," said Sonic.

"Ugh," said Sally.

"Mommy! Look at this!" said Basil.

Sally, Soledad, and Lady Saffron turned around and saw Basil holding onto Tails' arms as Tails flew around a bit.

"Careful, there!" said Soledad.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Carrera, we'll be fine!" said Tails.

"He does that all the time with Sonic, Soledad. And besides, how often do you get to meet a fox who can fly?" said Sally.

"I suppose…," said Soledad.

"Relax, dear. Your son has not had other kids to play with in quite a while. It's moments like this that make this fight all worth it," said Lady Saffron.

Soledad sighed.

"Yes, mother, I suppose you are correct," said Soledad.

Jericho and Dayton were sitting on the couch, enjoying their drinks when Jericho heard the door opening, he turned around to look, and Natalia was walking in.

"Natalia, what brings you up here?"

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but the refugees we rescued are ready to receive visitors," said Natalia.

"You could've just told me that over the communicator, Natalia, there was no need to come up here," said Jericho.

"I...um...forgot my communicator back on the ship, sir," said Natalia.

Jericho raised his eyebrow, and Natalia suddenly started pulling things out of her pockets, and Jericho could see she did not have her communicator. Natalia gulped a little and felt her heart skip a beat or two, but her palms were sweating.

"You could've just used someone else's communicator or used one of the computers across the base, you know," said Jericho.

Natalia simply nodded. Milena, who was standing nearby, simply raised an eyebrow.

"Regardless, never go anywhere without it, Natalia. Go ready the speeders, I'll gather up our party and we'll go to the camp," said Jericho.

"Sir, yes, sir!" said Natalia.

"This isn't training, one 'sir' will do," said Jericho.

"Yes, sir," said Natalia.

Jericho turned away and shook Dayton's shoulder to get his attention and they both walked towards the Freedom Fighters. Natalia took a moment to watch Jericho, but Milena walked up next to her and put her hand on her shoulder. She gave Natalia an awkward stare.

"What?" said Natalia.

"We all know the real reason you wanted to deliver this in person," said Milena.

"I...don't know what you're talking about," said Natalia.

Milena leaned in close to Natalia.

"You're not hard to read, you know," Milena whispered.

Natalia's cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

"Please...don't mess this up for me…" said Natalia.

"I won't," said Milena.

Natalia sighed in relief.

"Thank you, thank you," said Natalia.

"All right, everyone, let's get to the camp! Should've gone straight away, I don't like leaving those people waiting," said Lady Saffron.

"You're coming too, Lady Saffron?" said Sally.

"Of course, I always welcome our new guests. Trust is an important part of this operation, and the people we rescue should know who they can trust in these difficult times," said Lady Saffron.

"Alright, let's go, everyone!" said Sally.

"Where exactly is this camp?" said Tails.

"In the old park on the shore of Lake Adele," said Soledad.

"Lake Adele?" said Tails.

"You saw it when we flew in, it's the big lake to the west of Port Sapphire," said Jericho.

The Freedom Fighters and Rebels walked outside to the waiting speeders, and everyone but Sonic hopped aboard and set off for the refugee camp.

The Downunda Freedom Fighters slept soundly in their sleeping bags, with nothing but the silence of the night for sound, as clouds covered the bright full moon. But atop the rocks and the ridge overlooking their camp, several Stormtoopers, led by a few Death Troopers, were scaling the rocks to the high points, and moving heavy equipment via ascension cables. They had just gotten a full squad and an E-Web Blaster atop the ridge when Wombat Stu sneezed, slowly waking him up. He sat up a bit, and he saw what looked like movement on the ridge. He then quickly cleared his eyes, and when he saw the white armor of the Stormtroopers, he screamed loudly. The other Downunda Freedom Fighters woke up with a start, and when they saw what Wombat Stu was screaming at, they began to run for it, grabbing what they could, as the rest of the refugees, who also woke from his scream, began spotting the Imperials as well, and in a chain reaction, everyone screamed everyone out of their dreams and began to flee in all directions.

"RUN! EVERYONE! RUN!" said Barby.

"JUST GO! RUN, RUN, RUN!" said Walt.

The Freedom Fighters and refugees ran for their lives towards the entrance to a large ravine, as a steady rain began to fall atop them. But it didn't take long for a whole platoon of Imperial troops to give chase as they appeared over the ridge, chasing after the group, firing at them, killing and wounding several refugees as they attempted to fall in with those who were fleeing. The Freedom Fighters stood at the canyon entrance, attempting to herd the fleeing refugees.

"I can't get a shot at these guys! We got too many innocents in the line of fire!" said Bill.

"We gotta move!" said Wombat Stu.

Guru, moving at a somewhat slower pace, simply took a deep breath, as if nothing was happening around him.

"Come on, Guru! We gotta move! Weren't you listening?" said Barby.

"Violence ain't gonna achieve much, dudes. We are meant for something bigger, according to-"

Bill simply rolled his eyes and grabbed Guru.

"Oh, just save your philosophies for when we're not getting shot at!" said Bill.

"E-WEB!" said Walt.

The Stormtroopers atop the cliffs above them opened fire with an E-Web blaster, slaughtering countless refugees as they scrambled for cover or wandered into other lines of fire. The Freedom Fighters fired back, but they kept being suppressed by the E-Web's fire.

"I can't get a shot at that E-Web! Barby, Bill, you got one?" said Walt.

"No!" said Bill.

"The angle is no good! That thing'll shred us before we can get into a position!" said Barby.

"I'm not Sonic! No way I'm gonna run across for a shot!" said Wombat Stu.

"We gotta-"

Suddenly, an orange energy blast flew over the Freedom Fighters' heads and struck the power generator next to the E-Web blaster, causing it to explode, sending the Stormtroopers flying to their deaths off the edge of the cliff upon which they stood. The Freedom Fighters looked around, bewildered.

"Who fired that?!" said Walt.

"Wasn't me!" said Bill.

Guru simply smiled.

"The Dreamtime answered our pains, dudes. That was the work of the Guardian Angel," he said.

"Oh, here we go again with that 'Guardian Angel' stuff," said Bill.

"You really think it's him?" said Wombat Stu.

"I don't think. I know, the Dreamtime made sure the Guardian Angel would assist us, we won't even need to fire more shots-"

But they were interrupted as they saw several AT-STs closing in from behind, firing at them.

"Scout Walkers! Run, mates, run!" said Walt.

"Why do the bad guys always get the cooler toys, mate?" said Wombat Stu.

"Cause they're the bad guys, mate!" said Bill.

Walt threw one of his Bomberangs at the AT-STs, and stuck one in the head, but it did little noticeable damage. The AT-ST simply turned its head towards them again as if the blast was little more than a slap. It fired back in retaliation, and the Freedom Fighters moved deeper into the ravine. But as they moved forward, they saw nothing but corpses. They all felt their hearts almost stop at the sight. Barby especially felt like a vice was tightening around hers, as the refugees laid on the ground, dead by numerous weapons.

"Help me…,"

They looked up, one refugee staggered towards them, clutching a blaster wound on his hip.

"Help me….,"

But before they could even walk towards the refugee, he was shot in the back, and fell to the ground, as a Death Trooper with a whole platoon of Stormtroopers walked calmly towards the Freedom Fighters, shooting any wounded refugees and even a few corpses just to ensure they were dead.

 _"Don't move, Rebel scum,"_ said the Death Trooper.

Barby looked horrified by what just happened in front of them, she was on the verge of tears, and clutched her blaster pistol with a much tighter grip. Walt noticed this, and saw she was close to aiming her blaster.

"Barby, don't...don't! Keep it cool, mate," said Walt.

 _"Go ahead. Try it, Rebel,"_ said the Death Trooper.

The Trooper and the Stormtroopers took aim at the Freedom Fighters as the AT-STs came around the corner behind them. Walt looked around, surveilling their options, noticing a rock formation barely at the edge of his eyesight. He knew the second he put his hand on a Bomberang, they were all dead. His sweat intensified as the Empire drew down. But suddenly, a noise snapped across the air, as a blue bolt of energy stuck a Stormtrooper next to the Death Trooper, causing the Stormtroopers to frantically aim their weapons in all directions in confusion.

 _"Find that sniper, now!"_ said the Death Trooper.

Walt saw his chance, arming one of his Bomberangs, he turned around and threw it at the rock formation. It exploded on impact, causing the rocks to begin to collapse, right atop of one of the AT-STs behind them, the others were blocked off, unable to pass through the fallen rocks. The Freedom Fighters, save for Guru, charged the line of Stormtroopers and the Death Trooper and went into a melee with them. Barby vengefully smashed the Death Trooper in the face with a rock, but the trooper simply wrestled her away and tossed her down, before grabbing her neck and squeezed it hard, Barby unable to breathe. Bill, seeing her, quickly picked up the Death Trooper's dropped E-11D rifle and fired at the Trooper's back, wounding him, but the trooper simply drew his pistol and fired back at Bill, keeping one hand firmly on Barby. Walt and Wombat Stu meanwhile, were meleeing with the Stormtoopers, smashing them with melee weapons and shooting them with their pistols and picked-up E-11s. Bill, dodging the Death Trooper's blaster fire by rolling, fired several more shots, hitting the Death Trooper a few more times, and he still wouldn't go down. The Death Trooper took aim at Bill, but Barby suddenly reached for the Death Trooper's belt, and grabbed a Thermal Detonator Grenade on it, she then hit the arming switch, and when the trooper heard it beep, he took his hand off Barby and tried to grab it, but Barby kicked him back, and she quickly rolled away and ran, as the trooper tried to get the grenade off, only for it to explode, taking him with it. Barby then saw Bill run over and help her back to her feet, they simply glanced at each other as they ran to help Walt and Wombat Stu finish off the Stormtrooper squad. But as they finished off the Stormtroopers, they heard another AT-ST approach behind where the Stormtroopers were. They all groaned, but Walt then had a grin come to his face.

"Barby, ever wanted to drive one of those?"

"Since this mess started, Walt…"

The two Freedom Fighters ran up to the AT-ST before it could turn it's head to fire at them, and they fired their rappel lines to the top of it's head, rappelling atop them. Walt then tapped on the hatch, and soon, it opened as one of the pilots came out wielding a blaster. Walt simply grabbed the pilot and tossed him off the walker. Barby meanwhile grabbed the co-pilot and dragged him out with a struggle out of the walker, and tossed him aside as well. The two of them then hopped in and took control.

"Okay, time for the worm to turn," said Walt.

Bill saw Guru sitting in a meditative stance.

"Those Imperials greatly hurt the spirit of the land, upsetting the harmony of all. They cannot justify it with their moral righteousness," said Guru.

"Unbelievable. He's preaching peace, yet we have to do all the fighting," said Bill.

"What are we gonna do with him, mate?" said Wombat Stu.

Walt and Barby drove the AT-ST down the ravine, with the others following closely. They ran into more Stormtroopers on the way, but Walt and Barby easily drove them back using their captured AT-ST. They came across a few AT-PTs and other AT-STs, which they were able to repulse with their captured walker. Eventually, they saw a group of TIE Mauler tanks come charging towards them.

"Get them! Fast! They self-destruct!" said Walt.

Walt and Barby fired the AT-ST's guns at the TIE Maulers, destroying one instantly, but another started firing at Bill, Wombat Stu, and Guru, chasing them with intent to run them down. Walt and Barby turned their AT-ST and fired at the TIE Mauler, missing until they finally were able to line up a shot at it. They then felt a jolt shake their cabin, as they saw one TIE Mauler ram them, as if it tried to knock them over.

"I think it's gonna self-destruct, mate! Out! NOW!" said Walt.

The two quickly hustled out of the cockpit of their walker and jumped off just as the TIE Mauler self-destructed, taking the AT-ST with it. The Freedom Fighters regained their composure. Walt looked around, catching his breath.

"How much further...Bill?".

"Not much further, but we need to get out of this ravine, fast!" said Bill.

"I'm exhausted," said Wombat Stu.

"We made it this far," said Barby.

"Let's keep...moving. We can't give up now," said Walt.

The Freedom Fighters stuck to the ravine's wall as they continued onward, until they heard voices.

 _"You think those furballs can last this long?"_

 _"Nah, they're gonna give up sooner or later, they can't possibly last long even if they do make it out of this ravine."_

"Scout troopers…" said Walt.

But one trooper looked in their direction, and drew his blaster.

 _"FREEZE, FURBALL!"_

The Freedom Fighters exchanged blaster fire with the four Scout Troopers, eventually killing all the troopers, and walking towards the Speeder Bikes parked nearby.

"Great. Speeder bikes, this'll get us on our way," said Wombat Stu.

Barby felt her hands begin to shake a bit.

"Hey, you okay?" said Bill.

"No...just….DAMNIT! All those refugees…." she said.

Walt and Bill saw Barby break down in tears, and they could only comfort her with words.

"Yeah...we failed on that one, Barby…" said Walt.

"The Empire is gonna pay for what they've done...but we got to go," said Bill.

"But what about the ones that are still out there?" said Barby.

"I hate to say it...but we can't do any more today...we're exhausted and we've gotta get away from here before the Empire finishes us off," said Walt.

"And all the ones who died already?" said Barby.

"We ain't gotta leave 'em, dudes. Cause they're already gone," said Guru.

"He's...strangely got a point, mate. Come on, we gotta get to Robotropolis if we're gonna survive this. I promise you, the Empire will pay for this, but not today. For now, we gotta save ourselves," said Bill.

Barby sighed and shed a few tears.

"Okay…"

"That's settled then. Let's ride these bikes to the rendezvous point and get out of 'ere. We won't last another day if we stay any longer," said Walt.

The Downunda Freedom Fighters mounted the speeder bikes, as Wombat Stu sat on his bike, Guru sat behind him, as there were only three to use.

"When's the last time you bathed, Guru?" said Wombat Stu.

"My hygienic manners don't mean much, dude. It's bad karma to be leading people to certain death, it undermines the harmony of the land. And today was not good for that. The Dreamtime is rough right now with all the death today….but there is light on the horizon," said Guru.

Wombat Stu and Bill just looked at each other with confusion on their face, and just shrugged as they followed Walt's bike out of the ravine, right towards the rising sun on the horizon.


	9. Chapter 9: Reception

**Chapter 9: Reception**

 _Somewhere Near the Northern Tundra, Artika Region, Mobius_

Within the cold confines of an ice shelf, a female Mobian Ermine was seen pacing in front of a female Mobian Seal.

"Ugh, I feel like a coward just sitting down here waiting, as if hoping the cold will subside."

"Ze Imperial Off-worlders is out thair still, Erma. But at least we can enjoy ze nice cup of tea, no?"

"You and that stuff, Sealia…," said Erma.

A male Mobian Wolf, a male Mobian Polar Bear, and a male Mobian Penguin looked at each other.

"Even so, with the amount of activity going on up there, it's best we wait until they slack off before we make our move."

"I just hope the cold slowed them down, Guntiver. We ain't got the supplies to last forever down here."

"With how much you eat, maybe it's time to lose some weight, eh, Augustus?"

"Save it, Flip," said Augustus.

"Come on, Guntiver, we can take this guys, you know it. I don't care how high tech or how many troops they got, we got the home field advantage here," said Erma.

"And we'll probably be in some cell in Akhlut or Tundra's bases, if not in the hands of the off-worlders," said Guntiver.

"Never mind that, we gotta try anyway, either we flee or scavenge for supplies," said Augustus.

"And you will be risking yourself getting caught. No, Augustus," said Sealia.

"A few more days, if we can't raise anyone on the comms, then we-"

Guntiver was interrupted by the room shaking.

"What was that?" said Flip.

Erma ran to a periscope and used it to look outside.

"Oh, great...those Bombers are dropping a lotta bombs on the ice shelf!"

"Do they know we're here?" said Augustus.

"Not likely, the way they're going. They're just dropping bombs at random spots on the shelf...I think they're trying to force us out!"

"Oh, I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to zis...but we won't last if ze shelf begins to break!" said Sealia.

"Sealia's right, this shelf can't take this abuse for long, if it collapses, we either die or get discovered," said Augustus.

"Yeah, okay...start destroying everything! We're gonna go out the emergency exit," said Guntiver.

"On it, monsieur!" said Sealia.

The Freedom Fighters began smashing their equipment and pulling their data drives, smashing them too.

"Augustus, Sealia, pack the transmitter and the scrambler. We might need them, for where we're going," said Guntiver.

"I think I have a hunch as to how they tracked our position," said Flip.

"Oh, you think? Our scrambler must not have been effective enough at masking our signal from those off-worlders!" said Erma.

Suddenly, the room violently shook as a bomb landed directed above them. The ceiling began to crack and crumble from the explosion.

"Arguing amongst ourselves will not get us out of here! Now come!" said Sealia.

Sealia moved a table out of the way, revealing a hatch, which she proceeded to open, and as soon as they grabbed their breath masks and strapped them on, the Freedom Fighters leapt down the hatch, into the cold, frigid waters that surrounded their homeland.

 _Lake Adele Refugee Camp, Adele Wroshyr Park, Sapphyrus_

The Freedom Fighters and Rebels rode in their landspeeders down the dirt road leading to the park grounds, where they saw a simple force field barricade enclosing a large camp full of tents and prefabricated shelters.

"Here we are," said Jericho.

Sonic did not look too impressed.

"This is it? I was expecting...more," said Sonic.

"Sonic, doesn't this remind you of Knothole?" said Sally.

"How?"

"It's hidden among the trees, it's got clean water….,and the air...it's cleaner than it was back home," said Sally.

"It sure does, dear. I was remembering Knothole when we built this place. Such a shame I never got to see it again," said Lady Saffron.

Sonic suddenly heard a steady vocal harmony coming from the direction of the lake.

"Hey….do you guys hear that?" he said.

"Hear what, Sonic?" said Tails.

"Some kind of….weird music…" said Sonic.

"Uh….music?" said Rotor.

"Ah ain't hearin' anythin', Sugah-hog," said Bunnie.

"I swear! I hear something!" said Sonic.

"Maybe zat fuel iz going crazies…" said Antoine.

"I heard that, Ant!" said Sonic.

Sally took a very deep breath and smiled.

"I'm gonna say it again...the air...I haven't felt air this good since before Robotnik...I almost forgot what it felt like," said Sally.

Lady Saffron slithered atop a crate to address the refugees.

"Attention everyone...attention. For those of you who have just arrived from the recent rescue, I welcome you, I am Lady Saffron Laurent, former Senator of Mobius. For those of you still residing here, wonderful to see you all again. We have visitors, today, not just the brave Rebel Alliance personnel who risked their lives to help you all, but also the brave Freedom Fighters of Knothole, back home on Mobius, have finally come to join us in our war against the Empire. You may recognize them from the bootlegged holovids we've provided you; Princess Sally Acorn and Sonic the Hedgehog."

The refugees murmured and talked among themselves in surprise.

"The Princess? She's really here?" said a refugee.

Sally opened her mouth, but suddenly, Sonic jumped in front of her.

"She is, and so am I! Hi there, Sonic the Hedgehog. Hero of Mobius and Robotnik's biggest pain in the butt!" he said.

The Freedom Fighters rolled their eyes in annoyance, but many of the refugees were staring in awe.

"Sonic the Hedgehog…" said an awestruck child.

"The one who destroyed Robotnik's Death Egg?" said an elder.

"The one who stopped a giant water monster?" said a refugee.

"And managed to save Mobius from destruction at the hands of a long dead man?" said another refugee.

"Yep, yep, and yep! That's me! The one and only!" said Sonic.

Sonic posed, but Sally soon stepped in front of him.

"He didn't do it alone. He had the Freedom Fighters helping him, and we're all here to help you and the Alliance," she said.

"Everyone, give these fine heroes a warm welcome...they helped the Rebellion destroy the Empire's Death Star at Yavin IV, and deserve every bit of praise for that and the effort they made back home," said Lady Saffron.

The Freedom Fighters dispersed amongst the camp refugees and mingled with them. Sonic, of course, was surrounded by his admirers, and he took in all the attention and praise he was getting.

"My favorite color is blue, because it's cool like you are, Sonic!" said a child.

"Well, duh. Of course blue is cool. Why else is it perfect?" said Sonic.

Sally simply facepalmed in annoyance, but Bunnie giggled.

"Let 'im have this, Sally-girl. Y'all know he's a regular hero," she said.

"I know, Bunnie, but it doesn't make it any less annoying," said Sally.

Meanwhile, Knuckles stood in front of a large boulder, in front of some of his admirers.

"Observe."

He then leapt into the air, raising his fist up high and then brought it down, punching the boulder hard, causing it to crack and split in half, falling in opposite directions. Knuckles gently glided back down to the ground and bowed a bit, getting a bit of applause, while one child approached him.

"You must be the strongest guy on Mobius! How'd you get so strong?!" said the child.

"Upper body workouts….exclusively," said Knuckles.

Knuckles then flexed his muscles a bit, which earned him some praise. Meanwhile, Amy, Tails, and Cream were standing by the water's edge, amazed by what they were seeing.

"That water...it looks so clean, Miss Amy," said Cream.

"It sure does, Cream. It could be perfect for Chao, don't you think?" said Amy.

"It sure could! What do you think, Cheese?" said Cream.

"Chao, Chao." said Cheese.

"Cheese definitely thinks so, too!" said Cream.

"I haven't seen water this clean since the Lake of Rings back in Knothole," said Tails.

"Chao!" said Cheese.

They saw Cheese pointing at a large floating and rotating tower-like object with three fixed arms reaching out into the water, moving towards the shoreline.

"What...is that?" said Amy.

Rotor, who was nearby, saw the object come close as well.

"That looks like a Water Purifier," said Rotor.

"Oh yeah...that is a water purifier! Looks like a CryonTech model….uh...blast, I know this…"

"Looks like a GL-600 model," said Rotor.

"Yeah, that's it! Those things can run forever if you maintain 'em well enough. That one looks like it's at least thirty years old," said Tails.

"Thirty-five, actually. It's one of five remaining units of this type still functioning in this lake. Most use CTC H-Series or Mobius DefTech Puro-DX models," said Molly.

"Those are great machines, though the Puro-DX is way too slow," said Rotor.

"That's why you overclock the pumps," said Molly.

"Nah, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Glad to see these old G-Series models are still in use," said Rotor.

"Hey, look! Over there, across the lake on that island!" said Amy.

The mists that were shrouding much of the lake were clearing a bit, revealing a large fortress on the island across from them.

"Isn't that the old Knights of St. Acorn fortress?" said Rotor.

"It iz, and it's still in ze ruins," said Antoine.

"You sound like you've been there before, Ant," said Tails.

"Oui, oui...with my fathair, when ze last of ze St. Acorn Knights evacuated zis place," said Antoine.

"Why would they abandon it? It doesn't look that bad in shape," said Amy.

"Zey had been shrinking in ze numbairs, and ze cuts of ze budgets, according to my fathair. No finances for repairs," said Antoine.

"I think I might of heard about that too, this place was in bad shape after the two battles that took place here during the Clone Wars. Makes sense that when the fighting between us and the Baronies started dying down, they couldn't justify this place staying open," said Rotor.

"So they just left it to the elements to rot away?" said Amy.

"We have been trying to turn that place into a museum, you know, since local history buffs have been keeping it intact, but eh...with the war, it's no longer a priority," said Indigo, Sr.

"I see…" said Amy.

"But it would do this planet good with tourists, since this planet isn't on any major trade routes, and it's not exactly a good tactical position due to the nebula's position in this system," said Milena.

"I'll say."

Milena turned around.

"Derek, you're back. How's your sister doing?"

"For one, she gave me the usual worried sister routine, and I just learned she's officially a single mom now," said Derek.

"What? Raising two kids by herself? That's not gonna be easy," said Milena.

"I don't know what happened with her ex-husband and I don't wanna know," said Derek.

"Don't worry about it, son. Jade will manage just fine."

Derek jolted around behind him, and an older male Mobian Falcon was there.

"D-Dad?" said Derek.

Derek hugged his father with joy.

"Mr. Alddelfor, good to see you again, sir," said Milena.

"You too, Milena. How have you been? Has my son been staying out of trouble?"

"I do my best to keep him out of trouble, sir. My brothers certainly keep him busy and on the straight and narrow," said Milena.

"Please, Milena. 'Rodney' will do, we're friends," said Rodney.

"I think she's just being polite, dad," said Derek.

"I know, Derek, but you know me," said Rodney.

"Hi there, Mr. Alddelfor. You can tell that your son made it through the events of the past several weeks just fine," said Jericho.

"I know that. When I heard what happened, I feared for the worst. But I'm glad my son is safe and sound," said Rodney.

"I know I must've worried you, dad. But I'm here. Speaking of, what brings you back here? Besides Jade," said Derek.

"Well, I was asked by Bail Organa, rest his soul, to get some supplies in for some refugees who ended up here over the years. Even had to...uh...smuggle some through Imperial blockades," said Rodney.

"I know all about that mission you worked with my old man on," said Jericho.

"Speaking of old man...Jericho...up there," said Dayton.

Jericho looked up at the wroshyr tree, and saw an older Mobian Male Raccoon appearing to be in a meditative stance. Dayton looked at him with a venomous stare, and when Milena turned, so did she.

"Oh yeah. He asked for me to drop him off here. Dunno why he's at that wroshyr tree; he's been there for a few hours now," said Rodney.

"How typical. He's here instead of greeting us," said Milena.

"Yeah," said Dayton.

"Calm down, you two," said Jericho.

Jericho started walking towards the tree's ramps, and as Derek turned around, he saw Natalia, which made his heartbeat intensify.

"Uh...hi, Natalia. How are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, hi, Derek," said Natalia.

"Uh...beautiful night, isn't it?" said Derek.

Natalia raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh?"

"You know, you can see Mobius from here, just barely, but you can see it. See? It's that bluish-white one right...there. Sol is just next to it," said Derek.

"If you can tell which is which through the tint of the nebula," said Milena.

Derek's mood dampened.

"Milena, what do you want now?"

"You still don't know how to talk to a lady," said Milena.

"I've been talking to women as long as you have been talking to men, thank you very much!" said Derek.

"Hey, um...I need to check the supply cache real quick. Be right back," said Natalia.

"Natalia, hang on, I wasn't finished….ugh! See what you just did, Milena?" said Derek.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but it must be more exciting than what you were trying to do," said Milena.

Derek snarled in annoyance. Jericho, meanwhile, had reached the wroshyr tree platform where his father was meditating, but the second Jericho came close, his father's eyes opened and without turning around, addressed him.

"So...you made it back in one piece. Welcome back….Skipper."

"Good to see you too, old man," said Jericho.

"First Scarif, now Yavin. I suppose that makes you a hero now, right?"

"Like you said, old man. There aren't any heroes. Just people surviving hell."

"Meh, you ain't dead yet, all that matters, boy."

"You and Mac's training got me through all that, sir."

"Nah, I know it's impossible to hold you in the long run, you escape well."

"Didn't help me on Dirus, sir," said Jericho.

"Just weren't lucky is all. Now...suppose I gotta quit draggin' my feet and meet this so-called 'royalty,' so let's get me introduced. Do I look okay for royalty?"

"You look fine, sir," said Jericho.

"Good, good. Let's get this introduction done."

Jericho and his father walked back down to the ground, where Sally was waiting, as was Nora, the latter getting the attention of Jericho's father.

"Enjoying the quiet up there, Skipper?" said Nora.

"Only way I can keep it quiet, Mac."

"Princess Sally Acorn, this is my father, General Proteus Raccoon," said Jericho.

"It's an honor to meet you, General. Your reputation precedes you," said Sally.

"Nah...I just survived, it's the historians who blow it all out of proportion," said Proteus.

"Hardly undeserved, General," said Sally.

Proteus looked unimpressed by what he was looking at, and looked at Sally closely.

"You're really sure this is ol' Max's daughter? She looks like a clone of her ma," he said.

"It really is her, sir," said Jericho.

"Huh...genetics are a very strange thing," said Proteus.

Sonic was offended.

"Sally's a lot more capable than she looks, sir! Without her, there wouldn't even be 'Freedom Fighters'! In fact, neither of us wouldn't even be here thanks to her! So I think you should change your tone while you're in her presence!"

Proteus' gaze turned into a glare as his eyes pierced Sonic's direction.

"You watch your tone, boy. I got shot 5 times on that hill over there so that this city wouldn't be bombed by Separatists during the last war. So don't be tellin' me to watch my tone. I can kill you in 15 different ways with my bare hands,"

Sonic, not showing fear, gnashed his teeth.

"Why I oughta…"

"Okay, okay, let's take it easy, it won't do us any good killing each other," said Sally.

"You were right about one thing, boy. He's just as annoying as you said he was," said Proteus.

"I heard that!" said Sonic.

Proteus then saw Dayton and Milena, who were still coldly staring at him.

"Sir," said Dayton.

"General," said Milena.

Proteus just nodded, and then turned to Nora.

"Mac, let's talk," he said.

"Sure, Skipper," said Nora.

Sally then turned to Jericho.

"Your father and Capt. McCormick must go back a ways," said Sally.

"Like I said, she served under him. He turned a politically motivated promotion into something better," said Jericho.

"What was up with your brother and sister?" said Sally.

"That's another story in itself for another time," said Jericho.

Sally was left puzzled. Amy and Cream meanwhile were admiring the fish swimming close to the shoreline when they heard a voice.

"Cream?"

They turned around, and saw an older female Mobian Rabbit standing there. Cream's mouth hung open in shock.

"Cream….my baby!"

"Ma...ma?" said Cream.

Cream slowly walked towards her mother, and it turned to running, straight into her mother's arms, and the two of them embraced.

"Oh, Cream...you're alive and safe! I thought I'd lost you back at Knothole!" said her mom.

"Mama...I thought I'd lost you too! But you didn't have to worry, Miss Amy here helped keep me safe!" said Cream.

Amy just waved.

"Oh, Amy, I'm glad to see you're here too, thank you...thank you…"

"You're very welcome, Miss Vanilla. I take it you were with those people we rescued from that station?"

"Yes, indeed...when I heard that Sonic was helping in the rescue, I just knew somehow you two must have been with him. Oh, it's such a relief you're all safe! And I'm not the only one," said Vanilla.

Vanilla gestured and a brown-colored Chao flew up to Cheese. Cream and Amy's eyes lit up.

"Chocola! You're here too!" said Cream.

"Chao, chao!" said Cheese.

"Chao, chao! Chao!" said Chocola.

Cheese and Chocola held hands and spun around. This got the attention of Sonic, who walked over to them.

"Mr. Sonic! Look!" said Cream.

"I can see that, Cream. Hi, ma'am. Glad to see you're back with us again," said Sonic.

"Thank you, Sonic. Once again, I am grateful you helped keep Cream safe and sound," said Vanilla.

"Heh, no prob!" said Sonic.

"Sally? Is that really you?" said a voice.

Sally and Sonic turned around, that voice was familiar, and when they made eye contact with that voice, Sally was in shock.

"Rosie!"

"Yes, Sally. I am. You won't forget your nanny, dear," said Rosie.

Sally's eyes teared up with joy as she hugged her nanny. Sonic could only smile.

"Hey there, Rosie! Guess we saved you too when we hit that station,"

"Yes, the Imperials would've sent us to the Roboticizer or Kessel if you hadn't shown up when you did," said Rosie.

"I thought I was done for when Vader took me from Knothole," said Sally.

"Vader?"

"Yeah...he showed up at Knothole after the Empire's attack. He took me prisoner, but I never found out why," said Sally.

"Oh no…" said Rosie.

Sally noticed Rosie appeared to mumble something.

"Sorry?"

"Oh, nothing…, just was worried there for a minute," said Rosie.

"Well, thanks to Mr. Rebellion here, we're okay," said Sonic.

"Only because you blew up that Chemical Plant," said Jericho.

"Are you gonna ever-?"

"You'll live it down when you're good and dead. Not," said Jericho.

Sonic just pouted indignantly.

The Arctic Freedom Fighters swam through the frigid waters, seeing shadows of TIE Fighters and other craft flying overhead. They kept swimming around the ice shelves and icebergs.

" _Guntiver, any idea where we're going?"_ said Erma through her breath mask.

" _Once we evade Robotnik and the Empire, we can head to one of the villages. But let's keep moving,"_ said Guntiver.

But as they turned a corner, they ran into a squad of Imperial Seatroopers.

" _There they are! Blast 'em!"_

" _Blast this!"_ Augustus said.

He fired off the harpoon launcher in his hands, striking one of the troopers, and before the seatroopers could return fire, the harpoon exploded, sending them flying into the ice shelves.

" _GO!"_ said Guntiver.

The Freedom Fighters swam as fast as they could, but it didn't take long for a few Seatroopers piloting OMS Devilfish Subs to give chase. They fired their blasters at the Freedom Fighters, forcing them to scramble for cover as the subs glided past them to make another pass. Guntiver grabbed Erma's hand to stop her from spinning away in the water.

" _Stupid Imperials are coming back...OPEN FIRE!"_ said Erma.

The Freedom Fighters fired their blasters at the Submarines, and were only able to hit one of the pilots, sending his submarine floating aimlessly towards Guntiver, who grabbed onto it and began to slowly make his way towards the controls. Meanwhile, Augustus stood his ground in front of the second one, exchanging blaster fire with it and failing to score a hit. Before it could impale him, Augustus reached out with both arms and grabbed the front of the submarine and held on, just barely. The seatrooper tried to swerve to shake him loose, but Augustus started to crawl towards the controls, and the seatrooper drew out a blaster pistol, but Augustus simply lunged at the trooper, smashing into him and sending the trooper floating away towards an iceberg, and Augustus, reloading another harpoon into his launcher, fired it, and the trooper ended up impaled by the harpoon, stuck to the iceberg. Augustus reloaded as Erma swam over and took control of the sub. Guntiver, with Sealia and Flip holding on to his captured submarine, rejoined them.

" _Let's keep moving, there's gonna be more coming,"_ said Guntiver.

" _You think?!"_ said Erma.

The Freedom Fighters continued swimming through the icebergs, carefully avoiding any responding Imperials. They then turned a corner and saw some rocky shoreline ahead.

" _We're getting close to some villages. Those fishermen should help us get out of this area,"_ said Guntiver.

" _Oui, considering we have helped zem many a time,"_ said Sealia.

" _If the Empire hasn't gotten to them yet,"_ said Erma.

Flip looked around, and then he saw bubbles from behind an ice shelf.

" _Those don't look natural…..AMBUSH!"_

The Freedom Fighters only moved seconds before a set of blaster shots could direct hit them, and they saw multiple Imperial Submarines emerging from cover and turning towards them. They also saw multiple Seatroopers and Mobians loyal to Robotnik outside the submarines, but what got their full attention was the cybernetically-enhanced male Mobian Orca leading them.

" _Akhlut!"_ said Guntiver.

"Did you really think you could hide from me? The seas of this land are my domain," said Akhlut.

" _That's not what Tundra says, he won't like this,"_ said Flip.

"That fool couldn't find his way through these waters with a map. Give yourselves up if you want to live," said Akhlut.

" _So you can probably feed us to the Roboticizer instead. No thanks,"_ said Erma.

"I knew you'd resist...justifies me doing this next...KILL THEM, NOW!"

The Submarines, Seatroopers, and Mobian Soldiers opened fire, forcing the Freedom Fighters to take evasive action. Akhlut directed his group to follow at full speed. The Freedom Fighters swerved between rock and iceberg, trying to avoid them, but suddenly, they turned a corner, and Akhlut and his submarine was directly ahead. But before Akhlut could fire, the Freedom Fighters felt an explosion behind them, sending them careening towards Akhlut, but they barely managed to dodge crashing into the submarine. Akhlut looked up and saw several small objects floating down towards them.

"Whose depth charges are those?! I did not order them deployed!"

" _I don't know, sir! We are off the coast of Holoska now, and…"_

"Tundra...that fool doesn't even care I'm here. Evasive action!"

The depth charges exploded around Akhlut and the Freedom Fighters, accidentally killing several Seatroopers and Robotnik soldiers, Akhlut directed his submarine to chase the fleeing Freedom Fighters, and when they saw more depth charges, Erma snarled.

" _Guntiver, we're not getting far until we lose this guy!"_

" _I see your point! Looks like we won't get past without a fight!"_ said Guntiver.

Guntiver and Erma turned their Devilfish Subs around and faced Akhlut and his submarine, and they punched it at full throttle. The Imperial sub fired blasters at the Freedom Fighters, who fired the Devilfishes' blasters at the Imperials, killing several Seatroopers and Robotnik soldiers, then they took aim at Akhlut, he simply put both index fingers on his forehead, and his headpiece began to glow. The Freedom Fighters suddenly clutched their heads, they heard a loud, high-pitched noise that felt like their heads were about to explode. This caused Guntiver and Erma to lose control of their subs and smash into the sides of Akhlut's submarine, sending the Freedom Fighters flying in various directions. Augustus looked up as he grabbed the edge of the submarine. The first thing he saw was Sealia and Flip stunned from the crash. He then saw Akhlut slowly moving towards him. Mustering all his strength, he launched himself at Akhlut and punched him square in the jaw, knocking Akhlut into the front of the submarine. But an enraged Akhlut simply launched himself and swam towards Augustus, locking fists with him. The two exchanged punches until Akhlut felt someone wrap an arm around his neck, and Augustus saw Guntiver, trying to choke out Akhlut, but Akhlut resisted, and tried to reach for his cybernetic headpiece, but Augustus tried to stop him. Akhlut then opened his mouth and bit Guntiver's arm hard, causing him to howl in pain and release his grip. Akhlut then headbutted Augustus and damaged his breathing apparatus. He then drew out his knife and tried to stab him, but suddenly, he was impaled by a harpoon to the arm, causing him to drop his blade. Flip then swam head-first into him, sending Akhlut spinning away from the submarine, screaming. Flip, joined by Erma, picked Augustus up and quickly swam up, as Sealia grabbed Guntiver and swam up as well, moving as fast as they could until they reached surface. As soon as they reached the surface, Flip removed Augustus' damaged mask, and Augustus gasped and coughed, trying to breathe again. Sealia carefully helped Guntiver onto shore and helped tend to his wounded arm. Guntiver removed his mask.

"Aw...this is not good-OW!"

"Be still, Guntiver! Be still!" said Sealia.

"I got him, check Guntiver!" said Erma.

Flip nodded and ran over.

"Any deeper, he could've chomped your arm in half, Guntiver! Geeze! We need to stop the bleeding fast!" said Flip.

"Do we have ze medical kit?" said Sealia.

"Hold on…"

Flip checked their bags, first his, then Erma's, and when he came to Sealia's, he found a medpack.

"Got it! Lemme see...ah-ha! Here's some bacta bandages. Gimme one sec…"

Guntiver gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists as Flip carefully placed the bandages over the bite marks on Guntiver's arm. Sealia kept Guntiver steady and not flinching much as this took place. Flip had just barely finished when Erma looked over a ridge and saw someone approaching.

"Oh, come on...seriously?!"

They saw a line of Stormtroopers running towards them, and saw some "Occupier" assault tanks not far behind.

"Can you walk?" said Flip.

"I can try. But we need to move!"

"Too late," said Augustus.

They turned around and coming the other direction, they saw more Occupier tanks with Imperial and Robotnik soldiers, but they were also in the company of an old male Mobian Walrus.

"Ugh...Tundra. We walked right into this one," said Flip.

"What are we gonna do...Erma?"

Guntiver saw she had disappeared, and kept his cool, and simply nodded to Sealia, Flip, and Augustus as they were surrounded.

Tundra leapt down from his perch atop one of the tanks and approached.

"Did you really think you would escape? I would've been glad to have killed you all in combat, but I guess roboticization will have to do, Dr. Robotnik's orders. Then again...you could've been killed while resisting us, anarchists," he said.

Guntiver simply looked at Tundra with contempt.

"I still cannot believe that you're Rotor's father, for what-"

"Don't you dare bring him into this...that coward went and abandoned all of you! You don't owe him any loyalty now."

"I just got one thing to say to that; Freedom Fighters Forever," said Guntiver.

"Oui, Freedom Fightairs Forevair!" said Sealia.

"Yeah!" said Flip.

"Typical of you children. Defiant even when you've lost. So be it. Finish it," said Tundra.

The Imperial and Robotnik soldiers raised their weapons to fire, but suddenly, one snowtrooper heard beeping from behind him. He turned and looked around and then saw his thermal detonator flashing. Soon, several more began beeping and before the troopers could remove them, they began exploding one by one, killing them and several others.

"NOW!" said Erma, uncloaking.

The Arctic Freedom Fighters quickly charged Tundra and Augustus smashed him in the face with a solid punch, while Flip and Sealia swept kicks at his feet, knocking him down, with Guntiver kicking him down, and then they ran to join Erma, but the Imperials behind them opened fire. They had barely gotten around the tanks when suddenly, several missiles landed near them. They turned to see a Submarine had surfaced with a wounded Akhlut atop it.

"STOP THEM! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY, YOU FOOLS!" said Akhlut.

Tundra got up, gnashing his teeth in pain as some of Akhlut's missiles caused splash damage on his forces.

"STOP! STOP, YOU FOOL!"

Akhlut simply turned and glared at Tundra.

"Stay out of my way. The tides are in my favor today, you're just in the way," said Akhlut.

"They are on my land now! My ice! They are mine to destroy!" said Tundra.

"Yet you forgot that girl can camouflage herself and do damage to your warriors. These Imperial offworlders may provide us with strength, but you clearly cannot control it any more than you could control your own son," said Akhlut.

"I may just kill you, right here, right now," said Tundra.

Akhlut looked to his right and turned back to Tundra with a smug grin.

"No you won't."

"And why not?"

"Because the Freedom Fighters have gotten away while you were distracting me," said Akhlut.

Tundra turned around to the direction the Freedom Fighters had fled.

"What? ARGGH! They're gone! It's your fault! You distracted me!" said Tundra.

"Technically...they were on your ice. Your territory. My territory is the entire Northern Seas, starting with your shores," said Akhlut.

"Find them. NOW!" said Tundra.

Akhlut smugly turned to his subordinate.

"Well? We're waiting. And get me that medic. Now,"

His subordinate nodded and went back down into the submarine. Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters were not far away, hiding behind some rocks and ice.

"Heh. Gets them every time," said Flip.

Guntiver, clutching his still hurting arm, looked around.

"Augustus, wasn't there a train line near here?"

"Sure was. Over that next ridge. Why?"

"Those trains go right to Robotropolis. It's too risky to get to the locals."

"Agreed. It's a good Plan B," said Erma.

"Good. Let's get there and hope the next train comes by," said Guntiver.

"Oui," said Sealia.

The Freedom Fighters quietly snuck away from Akhlut and Tundra's forces and the Imperials, calmly making their way over ice and rocks until they came to a large trench where the train line was. They climbed up a steel signal structure and sat down on the overhanging arm and faced to the North.

"Now what?" said Flip.

"We wait. That's what," said Erma.

"In the meantime...got these ration bars that need eating," said Guntiver.

Guntiver reached into his backpack and handed out some ration bars to his friends, and they sat and waited. After a few minutes, Sealia felt the structure begin to rumble.

"It iz coming!" she said.

"Get ready to jump," said Guntiver.

The Freedom Fighters stood up and took each others' hands as a Hover Train finally appeared around the corner, coming towards them. They looked at each other and nodded, and as the train came close, the Freedom Fighters leapt off the signal structure, and landed atop of the train. Guntiver struggled to hold on to Sealia and Augustus as they hung off one side, and Erma barely got a foothold on a ladder rung on the side, keeping Flip from flying off as he hung by Guntiver's arm on the other side. Eventually, Augustus grabbed a rung with his other hand and gradually helped Sealia up to the roof, before pulling himself up. The Freedom Fighters quickly caught their breath, and Guntiver opened a hatch atop the car they were on, and he directed them to climb inside. They saw that the car was full of crates, which they all began to sit down on.

"Well, not exactly what I had planned, but...at least we're heading in the right direction," said Guntiver.

"We didn't exactly have a plan. We just did what Sonic would do, Guntiver. Wing it," said Erma.

"It worked, didn't it?" said Flip.

"I suppose," said Erma.

"I am hoping ze othair Freedom Fighters are okay," said Sealia.

"Yeah, me too," said Augustus.

"I know. I'd hate for us to be the last ones standing," said Guntiver.

The Freedom Fighters sighed as the train continued on it's way south out of Holoska.


	10. Chapter 10: Facades

**Chapter 10: Facades**

 _Shamar, Midesta Region, Mobius_

An Imperial convoy was making its way across the sandy roads, an AT-AT was leading a long line of AT-ACTs with several AT-STs and AT-AAs following alongside. Atop a nearby mesa overlooking the road, a green female Fennec fox was watching the convoy through her macrobinoculars, she looked anxious, but then, she looked to her left, and there was another convoy coming in the opposite direction preparing to pass the other.

"Oh, this isn't good…"

The girl put away her macrobinoculars and ran towards the edge of the mesa, carefully climbing down to the ground before running towards the city. When she entered the city, the streets were eerily quiet, as she saw many people were hiding in their homes and other hiding places. She soon came to one building where a male Mobian Porcupine and a male Mobian Mole were waiting around. The porcupine approached her.

"How bad is it, Sonar?"

"It's even worse than before, Spike and Trevor. We're completely surrounded...and outgunned."

"What? Are you serious?" said Trevor.

"Yeah. The off-worlders have convoys moving troops and equipment all over the main roads out of town," said Sonar.

"These...Imperial forces are way better organized and armed than Robotnik ever was. Oh, this is not good, they've upset everything!" said Spike.

"All our hard work for nothing! Now the balance of power here is firmly against us!" said Trevor.

"It's not helping anyone if they find us here! Maybe we should contact Neph &..."

But Sonar was interrupted when a communication terminal beeped.

"Whoa...how does she do that?" said Spike.

"Never mind that, Spike!" said Sonar.

Sonar walked over to the terminal, and soon, the image of Sub-Boss Nephthys the Vulture appeared.

"Neph? Oh, you're a sight for sore eyes!" said Sonar.

 _"Spike, Sonar, Trevor. I'm glad to see you're all still in one piece...I take it you understand the situation by now?"_ said Nephthys.

"I just got back from scouting things out, Neph. The Imperial forces are everywhere. I fear it's only a matter of time until they track us down," said Sonar.

"How are we supposed to make this stalemate work now?" said Spike.

 _"We don't. This is where we finally have to pick sides to survive,"_ said Nephthys.

"Are you kidding? That's not what we do!" said Trevor.

"Neph...we're friends. We promised we'd look out for each other...that we'd work together to keep this place safe, keep the balance of power in check!" said Spike.

 _"And the Empire isn't stupid. If we continue this arrangement, they're gonna know someone is keeping you guys one step ahead. If they figure it out, we're all dead. I know we've done much good keeping the war here from going in either side's favor...but now we have a wild card in form of the Empire. I overheard they are preparing to scour the city and track you all down, and they'll either kill you or roboticize you,"_ said Nephthys.

Sonar sniffled.

"So what do we do now?" she said.

 _"I can't help you three get away from the Empire, but I can give you a head start. I overheard the Imperial Officers saying they'll have Probe Droids scouring the city within the next hour. You all need to get out now. Get out and go join your friends, the Freedom Fighters, wherever they are. Sonic and his allies are still good people. You three will have to fight the war on their terms now,"_ said Nephthys.

"But, what about you? We can't just leave you here," said Spike.

"He's right, Neph, we're not leaving without you," said Sonar.

"Yeah! We're in this together!" said Trevor.

 _"If I go with you, you'll be in danger. Robotnik can track me through my cybernetic implants…"_

Nephthys then removed her mask.

 _"...and I need to stay here and ensure things don't get further out of hand. I can't stop the Empire, but I can minimize the damage they do. Maybe someday, we will reunite, but until things calm down...this is where we part ways."_

Sonar shed a few tears and rubbed her face.

"We'll miss you, Neph."

"Yeah, it ain't gonna be the same without ya," said Trevor.

"Yeah…" said Spike.

 _"Do not worry, dears...I'm not ready to give up. Neither should you. One last thing...remember that data disk I gave you when we first started this?"_ said Nephthys.

"How can we forget, Neph?" said Sonar.

"Yeah, what about it?" said Trevor.

Spike was looking around in the desk and found the disk Nephthys was talking about.

 _"I recorded a message on it. It's a confession to what's been happening here...in the event the Freedom Fighters figure out what we've done. That will ensure you three don't end up imprisoned for anything, it will all be on me. As far as anyone should know and understand, you three were only helping me do the right thing, even if others don't see it that way. Promise me you will do everything you can to help your friends save us all from the Empire,"_ said Nephthys.

Spike slowly nodded.

"We promise, Neph. We won't fail you," said Spike.

 _"Don't worry about failing me. Don't fail yourselves,"_ said Nephthys.

Sonar sniffled again, wiping away more tears.

"We won't. That's a promise," she said.

 _"This is it. Goodbye, Spike, Sonar, and Trevor Burrow...and I hope we meet again,"_ said Nephthys.

"Goodbye, Neph...and good luck," said Spike.

"Stay safe, Neph," said Trevor.

And with that, Nephthys ended the transmission.

"Well guys...this is it. Time for us to be Freedom Fighters for real. Let's start packing...and wipe the computers we can't take with us," said Spike.

"All our hard work…" said Sonar.

"I hate to wipe everything we spent so much time and effort one, but what choice do we have?" said Trevor.

"Yeah, so...let's get to it...Sonar? Are you okay?" said Spike.

Sonar was sadly sitting in front of the communicator terminal, clenching her fists.

"I just...I didn't think it would ever come to this, Spike," said Sonar.

"Neither did I but what choice have we got now? If the Empire finds out, Neph and us...we're all dead or Roboticized," said Spike.

"And we can't let that happen!" said Trevor.

"Trevor...while you're over there….get the sequencer charges," said Spike.

"Reading my mind, are you, Spike?" said Trevor.

"Mine too?" said Sonar.

"Yeah...when the Empire finds this place...they're in for a surprise," said Spike.

 _Headquarters for Midesta Sub-Boss Nephhys, Outside of Shamar, Midesta_

Nephthys was busy working on her computer, wiping the last of her files, and was just finishing up deleting her last transmission to the Desert Raiders when she heard the door open behind her. Her spine surged, and she turned around, and to her surprise, was Dr. Robotnik.

"Dr. Robotnik! I...I was not expecting to see you here...I thought you were still in Robotropolis-"

"My plans have changed a little. I'm here to oversee the destruction of Sand Blast City, and to round up anything of use. Those few that managed to survive are still out there, and where they'll go eludes me. As for you...any information on the Desert Raider Freedom Fighters?"

Nephthys looked behind Robotnik at the two ShadowBots standing behind him, their speech garbled by their scramblers, like the Imperial Death Troopers.

"So far, the Probe Droids are still scouring the city, but I think we're getting very close," she said.

"Good. Keep me informed of your progress, cause you know the consequences for us will be grave if they're allowed to escape and potentially reunite. Even worse...if the Rebellion gets them. Failure will not be tolerated," said Robotnik.

Nephthys gulped.

"Yes, doctor," she said.

"Good. Carry on, then, Sub-Boss," said Robotnik.

Nepthys then fell back in her chair, sighing and placing her hand on her face.

"Be safe…"

A Probe Droid hovered above the neighborhoods of Shamar, scouring the area until it suddenly stopped and turned. It's optics focused on a generator next to a small house. It slowly hovered closer, the ominous humming sound it made deepened. It then spotted an open door on the house. The probe droid then raised two antennae and began transmitting a signal. Within the next several minutes, several ITTs arrived on the scene and several Stormtroopers deployed from it, storming the house and began clearing the rooms. They searched high and low, under every table and bed, every chair, and inside every closet. But for every place they looked, they found nothing. One trooper approached a desk and looked at the computer, but saw it had been wiped. The trooper then began to hear a beeping sound, and looked around, as did the others; the trooper then slowly crouched down and saw a sequencer charge planted under the desk, almost out of sight. Soon, the house exploded into flames, killing all the Stormtroopers inside and damaging the ITTs outside, while wounding anyone caught in the blast. Outside the city, atop an overlook, Spike, Sonar, and Trevor Burrow were watching the scene from afar through their Macrobinoculars. Spike, holding the detonator, grinned.

"Heh, stupid Imperials. Works every time," said Trevor Burrow.

"Yep, that should buy us some time," said Spike.

"I guess...but now what? Where do we go?" said Sonar.

"Don't worry, Sonar. I know just where we can go," said Spike.

"Where?" said Sonar.

"Yeah, Spike, where?" said Trevor.

"Not too long after we met up with them, Princess Sally had me memorize the coordinates to a secret hideout in Robotropolis, in case something like this happened. She trusted me enough with that, but I had to memorize them, since they're not on any computer," said Spike.

"Good thinking for her," said Sonar.

"Yeah, some things you just have to keep inside your head," said Trevor.

"I know where we're going, the question is, how are we gonna get there?" said Spike.

"Yeah, Robotropolis is across the ocean," said Sonar.

"We'll need to fly there," said Trevor.

"I know, but we can't go back into the city, so we need to find another way. Lemme check this…" said Spike.

Spike was just turning on his locator when Sonar spotted something in the sand.

"Hey look! Over there!"

Spike and Trevor looked in that direction as Sonar ran over and crouched down for a closer look.

"What is it, Sonar?" said Trevor.

"Tracks. Looks like a convoy was here a while ago. The way the sand is….it came from the south. Maybe there's something there that can help us," said Sonar.

"Maybe a base or outpost. And you know what that means?" said Trevor.

Spike grinned in agreement.

"Let's follow those tracks."

The three of them hopped into their speeder and set off to follow the tracks. They drove across the terrain for several kilometers and dusk began to set in on the skyline. They drove until they saw beams of light ahead. Spike then pulled off the road and stopped the Speeder in the cover of some brush.

"Grab your gear. We're on foot from here. We'll be more stealthy this way," said Spike.

"If you say so," said Trevor.

"Let's get up on that ledge, and see what's down there," said Sonar.

The three of them climbed a ledge nearby until they reached the top, and saw a large base down below. Sonar then handed Spike the macrobinoculars and he began looking down at the base.

"What do you see, Spike?" said Trevor.

"Lotta activity. Transports, cargo carriers, not a whole lot of troops, looks like some SWAT Bots thrown in there for good measure. Otherwise, not many defenses…"

Sonar's ears then perked, and she gasped.

"Stay down!"

Spike and Trevor barely were touching the ground when they saw a pair of TIE Strikers fly over their heads.

"Whoa...that sound…" said Spike.

"Yeah, like a pair of flying banshees," said Trevor.

"I saw some transports on those landing pads. Let's see if we can find out where they're gonna go," said Spike.

Sonar nodded, but before she could say anything, she signaled them to "get down" again, and hid behind another rock barrier. Trevor sighed.

"Sonar, I'm kinda gettin' sick hiding behind all these-"

"Quiet! Look!" said Sonar.

The three of them looked back, and saw some Shadow Bots had discovered their speeder. They then began communicating with each other.

"I hate all that garbled talk they make, what are they saying?" said Trevor.

Sonar, holding a small listening device to her ear, pointed it at the Shadow Bots.

"From what I can gather...they're gonna tow it back to base for inspection. They don't know we're here, yet."

"Good thing that device really works," said Spike.

The Shadow Bots then began speaking with each other again, and acknowledging each other.

"What are they saying now, Sonar?" said Spike.

"Uhh….I think they just said that Sand Blast City is a crater now. Jack Rabbit made a last stand….and was killed. The rest are likely gonna be roboticized," said Sonar.

"Geeze...those idiots didn't really think they could win, could they?" said Spike.

"Well, it was their home. What would you all have done in their position?" said Trevor.

"I would've at least tried, but even I would've known when to retreat," said Sonar.

"Let's hope the other Freedom Fighters were smart enough to go underground. Now let's go. We don't have much time before they find us," said Spike.

The Desert Raiders quietly hustled off the ledge and slid down the side towards the base perimeter, and after climbing over a fence, made their way into the container yard of the base. Sonar led the way, listening carefully for any Imperial troops nearby. Whenever a patrol came near, Sonar held Spike and Trevor back as they avoided the many Stormtrooper and SWAT Bot guards patrolling the yard. They made their way across the yard until they made their way to the side of a large warehouse. They made their way through an open side door, and climbed atop the containers in hopes of avoiding being seen. But they were only a quarter of the way through the warehouse when they heard the main doors open, and an AT-ACT slowly walked in, being guided by workers to the loading bay. The Desert Raiders, feeling the impact of every step the AT-ACT took, made their way towards the main door, and Spike peeked outside, spotting the landing platform, and several transports landed there. He gestured the others to look, and Sonar looked skeptical.

"I dunno, Spike…"

"Let's get there, find out where they're going," said Spike.

"Anywhere's better than here," said Trevor.

They snuck outside and climbed atop the containers and ran towards the landing platform as they overheard the workers.

 _"Those containers were supposed to arrive yesterday!"_

 _"We're lucky they arrived at all! Those Sand Blasters were a nightmare to deal with!"_

 _"Quit talking! We have a deadline to meet!"_

Suddenly, Sonar's ears perked again and she gasped as they heard the sound of an AT-ST coming around the corner of the warehouse nearby. The AT-ST soon appeared and turned in the direction of the Desert Raiders, but it did not see them as it looked around, it then continued walking around the side of the warehouse and past the Desert Raiders, who were hanging by the side of the container with their bare hands, praying it didn't turn to see them. They breathed a sigh of relief when it walked past, and they dropped down and ran as fast as they could, trying not to be seen. One of the workers turned towards the Landing pad.

 _"What's the status of those transports?"_

 _"Almost ready for take off...destinations….Transport 1 to Sand Blast City, Transport 2 to Mercia-Avalon, Transport 3 to Robotropolis, Transport 4 to Downunda. Confirming destinations, get moving!"_

"Yes, sir!" replied one of the pilots.

The Desert Raiders, who overheard the talking, quickly climbed up to the landing pad and ran up to Transport 3, and quickly climbed aboard through the open door, and hid behind the crates as best they could, praying nobody saw them. The pilot and co-pilot climbed aboard, and the Desert Raiders held their breath as they stood there.

"Co-Pilot, we need to get moving to Robotropolis! Everything ready?" said the pilot.

The Co-Pilot looked around, making sure containers and other items were secure for the flight, and he failed to notice the Desert Raiders hiding nearby. They tried so hard not to even breathe hard.

"All's well, come on, we're already late," said the co-pilot.

"Finally, let's take off," said the pilot.

The two of them made their way to the cockpit and closed the door. They then powered up the transport's engines and it slowly took off, leaving the Shamar region behind in its wake. The Desert Raiders breathed a sigh of relief, and Sonar, out of curiosity, opened a container and beamed at what she found; some food and water.

"Bingo!"

"Alright! I'm starving!" said Trevor.

"Yeah, they won't miss a few of these!" said Spike.

"Who wants one of these meilooruns?" said Sonar.

"Oooo, me!" said Trevor.

Spike grinned and held up his water.

"Here's to our new beginning, and hoping the other Freedom Fighters can help us."

"Here, here!" said Sonar.

"I'll drink to that!" said Trevor.

They drank their waters as the transport flew off towards the setting sun.

Sonic was inside one of the guestrooms at the Laurent house, trying to sleep, but he was soon awoken by the sound of frustrated grunting on the balcony outside. Sonic got out of bed and walked outside, where he saw Sally with NICOLE, looking frustrated.

"What about arming the people working in the factories and mines as a diversion?"

 _"Negative, Sally. A riot would alert the Empire of a potential revolt, and my calculations suggest the Empire would sooner massacre them with bombardment tactics."_

"Ugh! Come on, NICOLE! We have to at least have some idea of how we can do this! I can't go back to those people and tell them that I have nothing!" said Sally.

 _"Current tactical options yield only a 19% success chance, Sally,"_ said NICOLE.

"No! We gotta make it higher, NICOLE!" said Sally.

"Sal? What are you doing?" said Sonic.

"GAH! Oh, it's you, Sonic. Don't scare me like that, okay?" said Sally.

"Sorry. But what are you….are you planning on how to liberate Mobius?" said Sonic.

"And I can't figure out how to do it," said Sally.

"Sal, wasn't it you who agreed with the Rebellion's belief that liberation was a bit of a stretch?" said Sonic.

"I know that, Sonic! But after seeing all those people in the camp...I dunno...I felt I had to come up with something, anything, that shows we at least have a plan to get our homes back! If I don't...they're gonna think we're….giving up...I have to try...I need to try…" said Sally.

"Sally, we haven't given up on anything. In fact, this doesn't feel any different from back home all those years ago. You have to remember that we've had some progress against Robotnik. I mean, we've made a fool out of Robotnik in front of his Imperial superiors, especially after we blew up the Death Star," said Sonic.

"There's that….but all those people...this is so big, Sonic...bigger than how it was back home...all those people looking up to me...I gotta have an answer for this problem, Sonic," said Sally.

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Sally. Look at me."

Sonic cupped Sally's chin and turned her head to look at him in the eye.

"Robotnik may have powerful allies backing him up, but he is far from invincible. We WILL defeat Robotnik, all we have to do is believe in ourselves, inspire others across the galaxy, & show that there is still hope. I know it's difficult & frustrating, but we need to be at our best. We need YOU to be at your best. If we give in to despair right now, then Robotnik & the Empire wins. If we inspire hope across the galaxy, then we can show that we're stronger than Robotnik & the Empire. Yes, we can't win every battle. Yes, we can't save everyone. But that doesn't mean we can't save our home. It's going to take time, but all we need to do is light that spark of rebellion to create a fire across the galaxy. All you have to do is give them a chance to prove themselves. Make ten men feel like a hundred."

Sally was surprised, confusing Sonic.

"What? Was it something I said?"

"That was...surprisingly inspiring, Sonic. I'm just not used to getting pep talks from you. Usually I'm the one giving you a pep talk when you're down."

"I...think it just came to me. We're a team, Sal; we're all in this together. We need to stop worrying about the big problem and focus on the little ones for a while. We may have lost Mobius, but the Rebellion must not lose the galaxy," said Sonic.

"I...yes. You're right Sonic...I picked a bad time to have a nervous breakdown, did I?"

Sonic laughed.

"Sal, you've been having nervous breakdowns since we were kids. You wanna know how I deal with anxiety?"

"Lemme guess...you run 200 kilometers in an hour?"

"Besides that. I just...breathe," said Sonic.

"Breathe? You're not one to stand around breathing."

"Sal, all you have to do is relax, then close your eyes...& breathe. Trust me, it works."

Sally closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths as Sonic suggested.

"So, how do you feel? Is it working?"

"You know what? I have plans already...for how we can start whipping this cell into shape. You're right, Sonic...we need to focus on gathering our resources so we can help the Rebellion. We help them...they help us."

Sonic was bewildered by Sally's sudden change in demeanor.

"I...uhhh..."

"Thank you, Sonic. What would I do without you?"

Sally then kissed Sonic's cheek, leaving him speechless. Sally giggled a bit.

"Uhhh...thank you? Or is it...you're welcome?"

Sally giggled again.

"Oh, Sonic Hedgehog."


	11. Chapter 11: Friends

**Chapter 11: Friends**

It was another day for the citizens of Robotropolis, as they went about their day with the sight of Imperial and Robotnik forces watching over their every move, and the rain pounding them. Robotnik's voice soon broadcast over the city's PA system.

 _"Citizens of Robotropolis: The Military Forces of the Galactic Empire have arrived for your own protection. You will provide them with whatever they need to accomplish their objectives of hunting down and eliminating the terrorist 'Freedom Fighters' that plague our fair planet. Failure to assist will be considered treasonous."_

A gray female Mobian lemur had scoffed at the PA announcement as she walked through the marketplace.

"Yeah, right. Like that's true. Just keep it together, Tangle, remember what you were taught..."

Looking around, she saw there wasn't much that appeared appetizing for her. She walked up to a walk-up cafe and sat down.

"What can I get you, miss?"

"A friend of mine suggested the Chun-nan imported noodle dish. He says it's a real sleeper," said Tangle.

"Comin' right up."

Tangle looked around, observing the citizens go about their daily routine, all she could hear was the usual sales pitching by the merchants. She then pulled out her datapad, and started checking it, namely her emails and other messages, but saw there was nothing new, and the news was all the usual Imperial-biased propaganda. Soon, a bowl of noodle soup was placed in front of her, and Tangle placed her datapad down and placed a few credits on the counter, which were taken by the server. Tangle started eating her food, it was still a bit hot, but it definitely had better taste than the other stuff that was being sold.

"You know, I've only sold that dish once before you today, almost nobody is even remotely aware of this import, you know," said the server.

"Really?" said Tangle.

"Yes, I could've sworn I saw a familiar face order it earlier today. One I haven't seen in over a year," said the server.

"What did she look like?" said Tangle.

"Dragon, looked like she'd just flown in, said she missed this place," said the server.

"I think I know who you're talking about, friend of a friend from outta town, maybe I'll run into her," said Tangle.

"I think so," said the server.

"Thanks for that," said Tangle.

As Tangle continued eating, she saw an Imperial Officer and several Stormtroopers arguing with a fruit vendor at the edge of her sight line.

"But, but I've already paid my vendor fees!"

"Your products lack the proper tax stamps, they're only local tax stamps," said the officer.

"But that means I'll be making less!"

"That's of no concern to us, if you fail to place the proper tax stamps, then we can strip your distribution licensing and arrest you for tax evasion, and confiscate your goods," said the officer.

"Please! I have a family!"

"Then you should consider their wellbeing in this case," said the officer.

Tangle felt disgust at what was going on, but she then saw a few hands grabbing a few of the fruits from behind the shelf. She quickly finished the last of her food and got up to go check it out. She stepped in some refuse, getting it all over her shoe, and she gagged at the stink.

"Ugh...disgusting," said Tangle.

She rubbed her shoe against the surface of the sidewalk as she saw what appeared to be a small girl running across the street towards an alley.

"Probably an urchin, I should at least try to keep her out of trouble…"

Tangle followed the girl into the alleyway, and slowly walked through until she felt the barrel of a blaster to her head.

"Hold it."

Tangle saw a white female Mobian Tiger to her left, holding the blaster. The girl took Tangle's blaster out of its holster and Tangle held her hands up, trying to keep calm.

"Easy there, I just was following a girl who took some fruit from that vendor, that guy was being shaken down, I didn't think that was…"

"Right, and I'm a-"

"Stop! There's no need for that, Jian. She's definitely one of ours."

Tangle turned around, and saw the girl she saw earlier, with a female Mobian dragon and a female Mobian tortoise, as well as a female Mobian fox.

"Dulcy? Is that really you?"

"Wait, you know this girl?" said Jian.

"Course I do, she's Sonic's prospect, Tangle," said Dulcy.

Tangle was excited at the sight of Dulcy.

"Aw, man, am I glad to see you! That guy at the cafe said he saw someone like you. I remembered Sonic said you were the one to suggest that noodle dish," said Tangle.

"Heh, always good to have something that reminds you of home. Glad to see you're still in one piece, kid," said Dulcy.

"I'll say," said Tangle.

"Anyway, that's Jian, she's the one who gave you the warm welcome. And this is Cinder, Bunker, and Li Moon," said Dulcy.

"Tangle the Lemur, I take it you're all Dulcy's team?" said Tangle.

"Oh, yes! Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi!" said Cinder.

"I can see good chi emanating from within, it's good to know we have an ally here in the city, especially one trained by Sonic," said Bunker.

"Hi," said Li Moon.

"Yep. Introductions are all well and good, but what are you guys doing here? No, wait, lemme guess...Empire chased you out of Chun-nan, right?" said Tangle.

"Yep, we just arrived in town, hadn't had a bite to eat since we left," said Dulcy.

"Dulcy is taking us somewhere safe, prospect," said Jian.

"Good luck with that, nowhere is safe with the Empire running the streets now," said Tangle.

"Don't worry about it. As Sally would say, 'I have the old plan.' We're going to the junkyard," said Dulcy.

"The one by the river?" said Tangle.

"Yep. Can you accompany us? We could use someone with a more...up-to-date knowledge on Imperial activity in the city," said Dulcy.

"Sure thing! Ever since...Knothole went dark, I've been doing what I was told to do, keep an eye on things, be ready to help out. I know where all the checkpoints are between here and there. Follow me, but stay close. And don't start something, there are troops and droids everywhere, they'll be on top of us in minutes," said Tangle.

Tangle saw Jian hand back her blaster, and Tangle took it back as she turned back towards where she came and looked around. She saw the Imperial patrol from earlier had moved on. She then gestured the Shijin Warriors to follow her onto the street. They walked down the street, blending into the crowd as best they could.

"I had heard this place used to be a beautiful city...this is nothing like the stories," said Li Moon.

"Yep. Hard to believe this was once a shining city. Sally and the others told me all about this city when they were kids. It was a nice place then, until Robotnik happened. Now it's more dirty than the junkyards," said Dulcy.

"Follow me, we'll cross the 4th Citadel Main Street and hopefully cut past the spaceport, we can avoid the Citadel grounds. We don't wanna be near the Citadel, they got patrols so concentrated around that place, even the traffic jams are organized," said Tangle.

"That big giant tower over there?" said Cinder.

They all glanced at the massive dark tower that seemed to pierce the sky above.

"Yep. Sad, too. It was supposed to be a symbol of peace. It was to show our achievements with the Old Republic, that is, until the Empire and Robotnik took over and they finished it. Now it's hard for even Sally to look at," said Dulcy.

"Okay, this way is good. Let's go," said Tangle.

The group crossed the street as they looked both ways at the checkpoints in both directions. Bunker observed the many pedestrians walking the streets.

"They all appear so rugged. The chi here is...faint."

"Yeah, they're miserable." said Jian.

"'Miserable' is putting it lightly. Here, we're gonna pass by the planetary transport docks," said Tangle.

They passed by a few buildings before reaching the docks, as they heard the PA again.

 _"This is a friendly reminder to all citizens of Robotropolis that the walls of the Citadel Tower are off-limits to anyone. Do not attempt to approach the wall or respective entrances. Failure to comply will be met with force."_

Tangle and the Shijin Warriors simply rolled their eyes at the sound of Robotnik's voice. They rounded a corner and they passed by a cargo loading area, where they overheard two transport pilots appearing to be arguing with an officer.

"The droids say you're a few pounds light on your containers."

"That's not right! The containers were within assured weight on the register!"

"Foodstuff is easy to sneak off, but within a single pound? You two have either been stealing or you've been indulging yourselves. Please report to personnel management for reassignment."

"But, sir-"

"Do I need to report you two to Dr. Robotnik and the Admiral?"

"No, sir."

"Then get going, then."

"Yes, sir."

"Carry on."

Tangle and the Shijin Warriors were walking by and Tangle turned a corner before slamming into someone.

"OW!"

"OW!"

"Hey, watch it, will you? I could've heard you coming a mile away!"

"Sorry," said Tangle.

Tangle saw three Mobians, the one she hit was a female Mobian Fennec Fox, the others were male, a Mobian Porcupine, and a Mobian Mole. The Porcupine took a look at them, and seemed curious when he saw Dulcy.

"Hey, have we met before?"

Dulcy looked at the Porcupine, she was sure they had.

"I believe so. Spike, right? Desert Raiders?"

Spike's eyes widened.

"Yeah, now I remember! Dulcy, right? From the Shijin Warriors?!"

"Shhh! Geeze, you trying to get us killed here?" said Jian.

"Sorry," said Spike.

"Yeah, I remember you too, now. We met once before during meets with Sally! Good to see you guys made it. Everyone, this is Spike, he's the leader of the Desert Raiders Freedom Fighters from Shamar. Spike, this is my team, Jian, Cinder, Bunker, and Li Moon. And that's Tangle, one of Sonic's proteges," said Dulcy.

"Great to meet you all! This is my team, Sonar and Trevor Burrow!"

"Yeah! Glad to see you all made it here," said Sonar.

"Likewise," said Bunker.

"I guess we're all heading in the same direction, right?" Spike said.

"You betcha. Tangle knows the way there, and where the Imperials are most concentrated," said Dulcy.

"Yeah, it's a little further, but we'd better move fast, we don't wanna be out on the streets after dark, curfew goes into effect," said Tangle.

"Let's keep moving, then," said Jian.

The group continued on their way, crossing alleyways, streets, and listening to another PA announcements.

 _"Curfew is strictly enforced by Droid Security and Imperial Forces. Being out during curfew hours will be considered an act of subterfuge and anyone caught will be summarily detained and imprisoned."_

"That's a cliche," said Trevor.

"Yeah...whatever that means," said Cinder.

"Coming up on 3rd Citadel Main...wait! Get back! Stay out of sight!" said Tangle.

"What? Why?" said Bunker.

"I hear something too! Down!" said Sonar.

They all crouched down as the sound of marching became clearer. Soon, they saw a group of SWAT Bots escorting a group of what appeared to be droids. But upon closer inspection, they almost looked like people.

"Those droids look...really strange," said Cinder.

"Those aren't droids, Cindy. Those used to people," said Dulcy.

"What?" said Cinder.

Tangle nodded.

"Yeah, 'used to' be people. Until Robotnik fed them to his Roboticizer and turned them into droid slaves to work in his factories and mines. Don't let 'em fool you, kid. They may look like someone you know on the outside, but on the inside…"

"They mindlessly serve him as though he was some sort of deity," said Bunker.

"Yeah, I can't even begin to imagine how many more people we know may be amongst them after the last few weeks," said Spike.

"Yeah," said Sonar.

The column of Robians made their way down the street, and when they finally passed, Tangle looked out and scanned both directions.

"Okay, we're good. Let's move."

The group made their way across the street and onto the other side.

"Junkyard isn't much further now, we'll be there soon. We just gotta cut through the slums," said Tangle.

"Great. Lead the way," said Dulcy.

They continued down through the slums, which were becoming less populated with foot traffic due to the impending curfew. Sonar then heard something.

"I hear something, maybe it's...a scout walker?"

Dulcy flew up into the air for a better look, and she looked around, spotting an AT-ST's head sticking out from behind a building.

"She's right! Find some cover, fast!" said Dulcy.

Dulcy landed on the ledge of a building and hugged the side of it to hide, while everyone else scattered behind any cover they could think of. The AT-ST turned the corner and walked slowly past them. The Freedom Fighters then slowly snuck around the corner as Dulcy flew up into the air and looked around for a bit. She then flew back down and spoke.

"Okay, these guys are all over this place. We need some cover."

"Not a lot of cover in these streets," said Tangle.

"There's a lot of troop carriers and walkers patrolling these streets, so we gotta stay off 'em," said Dulcy.

"Not to mention those hover units sweeping the rooftops," said Tangle.

"Hold on! I hear footsteps coming from the alley," said Sonar.

"Imperials?" said Bunker.

"Can't tell…" said Sonar.

"Get ready," said Jian.

The group slowly pulled their blasters and took aim at the dark alleyway as they heard footsteps approach, and then a can fell onto the alley's ground.

"Who's back there? Show yourselves!" said Dulcy.

"Wait, Dulcy? Is that you? I'm coming out! Don't shoot!"

Soon, a male Mobian wolf appeared from around the corner with his hands in the air.

"Guntiver? Take it easy, guys, he's the leader of the Arctic Freedom Fighters," said Dulcy.

"Ha, I knew it was you, Dulcy! Come out, guys! More Freedom Fighters are here!" said Guntiver.

The rest of the Arctic Freedom Fighters came from out of the shadows, excited to see their allies.

"All right!" said Flip.

"Magnifique!" said Sealia.

"Yeah, what she said," said Augustus.

"Indeed," said Erma.

The Freedom Fighters exchanged hugs and greetings with each other as they took cover back in the alleyway.

"Any word on the other Freedom Fighter groups?" said Guntiver.

"Not yet, but we're going the same way you guys are, I believe," said Dulcy.

"You betcha!" said Guntiver.

"But man, this place is hot...and it stinks!" said Flip.

"You're telling me, definitely gone are the days when you could see the moon clearly," said Jian.

"Yeah, nothing but smelly water and sludgy streets," said Cinder.

"Reunion's all well and good, but we still got problems, namely, the Empire," said Erma.

"Which brings me to this; we were doing some reconnaissance to plan our route, it seems the road leading to the junkyard has a checkpoint in place," said Guntiver.

"Probably getting ready for curfew soon," said Tangle.

"Is there a way around it?" said Spike.

"Nothing that will get us there any faster, the other ways though are either blocked by force-fields or roadblocks," said Augustus.

"Oui, and we do not have ze time nor luxury to be taking alternatives," said Sealia.

"No way we're fighting through there, that'll draw too much attention, and likely get us killed in the process," said Dulcy.

"So what are we gonna do now?" said Cinder.

"There may be a way to do this that'll get their attention," said Guntiver.

"Like what?" said Spike.

"We talked to some of the locals, and they say the Empire has really been cracking down on this sector. If there was something going on, they'd be on the scene quickly," said Erma.

"What did you guys have in mind?" said Sonar.

"There's an empty apartment tower a few blocks over. Maybe if we could...light it up? That would make them have a bigger problem to deal with than a few fugitives," said Flip.

"That's a bit of a risk, you know we can't risk the civilians," said Dulcy.

"Most of these buildings are empty anyway, and this building is isolated from the others. We did a sweep of it, nobody appears to be living there, and maybe some of you could go around and make sure any of the neighbors get out of harm's way," said Guntiver.

"And there's no other way?" said Bunker.

"Unless you guys brought some missile launchers with you," said Augustus.

"Besides, the locals say these buildings are in bad shape anyway. The Empire won't look too closely at this," said Guntiver.

"Best to overheat the power couplings. That way you won't need accelerant. Won't cause too big a fire, at least it'll be controlled. I just learned a bit of demolition tricks from my time in the Shamar Chapter," said Jian.

"Good idea, Jian. In the meantime, Spike, take a few and warn some of the locals. Given how the Empire has been treating them, I think they'll be glad to allow us to do this," said Dulcy.

"Sure, Dulcy. But let's move fast before the patrols come back," said Spike.

The Shijin Warriors and Arctic Freedom Fighters made their way towards the abandoned apartment tower, while the Desert Raiders and Tangle spread out to some of the occupied buildings to warn people to stay clear. The rest entered the building, and Jian directed them towards several boxes on the walls.

"Power regulators. Disable them and raise the flow of power, that'll overheat the couplings on the floors above," said Jian.

"Right," said Augustus.

Augustus and Sealia approached one of the regulators. Sealia reached in and turned a switch, setting the power level higher. Augustus, using a piece of pipe, swung at the regulator and hit it, and then again, and then again, damaging it, which in turn, disabled it. Jian and Bunker approached another one, and did the same, only Jian used the blade at the tip of her tail to stab the regulator, causing it to short out and fail. The others were doing the same to the various regulators on the ground floor and basement.

"...and you better not look at it, okay?"

Tangle was just finishing up warning a mother and her children of the impending action. She then reached into her pocket and handed the mother a few credits.

"Here. Compliments," said Tangle.

"Thank you, miss. Bless you."

"No prob, ma'am."

Tangle left the door and walked back as Spike, Sonar, and Trevor Burrow rejoined her. Soon, the other Freedom Fighters exited the building. They quickly hustled into a side alley, as smoke began to emit from the open windows of the building. Soon, several small explosions took place on various floors of the building. The commotion caught the attention of the Imperials on patrol as they rushed to the scene, including several from the checkpoint.

"Now's our chance, go!" said Spike.

Several Stormtroopers, AT-PTs, AT-STs, and TX-255s approached to cordon off the area as the Freedom Fighters hustled down the side alleys towards the now sparsely occupied checkpoint, which now had one AT-ST and a few Stormtroopers, who were now on task with keeping the traffic clear of the scene. The Freedom Fighters crouched behind some walls and crawled past the distracted troopers, and then disappeared into the crowd of people gathering to see what was going on. They soon regrouped once they were clear of the crowd.

"Nice work, that'll keep 'em occupied for a while," said Dulcy.

"Yep! Told ya it would work!" said Guntiver.

"The junkyard isn't far now. Follow me," said Tangle.

The Freedom Fighters continued walking down the street until they saw the junkyard's fence, and began looking for the entrance. It didn't take long for them to find it further down the street.

"We're here, what's next?" said Tangle.

"Me, Guntiver, and Spike know where our destination is," said Dulcy.

"Hard to believe we're hiding out here," said Erma.

"Robotnik's droids never really come out here, cause they don't understand the concept of 'one man's garbage is another man's treasure'," said Dulcy.

They had just walked through the gate when….

"HALT! Who is it who stands down there?"

They looked up and saw a male Mobian sparrow with a bow and arrows at the ready, aiming right at them from atop some wreckage.

"Easy, we're not here to fight, buddy. We're just looking around here," said Spike.

"Art thou…Freedom Fighters?"

"They are Freedom Fighters, Bow. You may stand down."

They looked in the direction of a female Mobian wolf standing atop another pile of junk.

"Lupe! It's you!" said Dulcy.

"Yes, Dulcy, and I'm glad to see you and many others join us," said Lupe.

It didn't take long for more people to reveal themselves along the piles of junk, which brought smiles to everyone's faces.

"It's the Wolf Pack, Downunda, and Mercia Avalon Freedom Fighters! This is awesome!" said Dulcy.

"All right! The Desert Raiders, Shijin Warriors, and Arctic Freedom Fighters!" shouted Walt Wallabee.

Everyone ran up to each other and exchanged hugs and greetings with each other as Lupe and Dulcy shook hands and hugged for a bit.

"How did you guys get here?"

"Me and the Wolf Pack hiked down from our lands after the Empire attacked us. We met up with the Mercia-Avalon Group a few days ago, and then shortly after, we met up with the Downunda group, they had just arrived in the area, and we decided to go together. I'm guessing it was the same situation for you and the others," said Lupe.

"Yep, and Sonic's Prospect, Tangle, was there to help us, too," said Dulcy.

"Oh, yes. I believe we've met before," said Lupe.

Tangle nodded.

"Yeah, I remember you, I saw you a few times in Knothole," said Tangle.

"This place is hardly the place for chat. Shall we?" said Lupe.

"Everyone! This way!" said Dulcy.

The group walked through the junkyard until they reached one particular pile.

"Here we are," said Lupe.

"We're hiding out here?" said Tangle.

"One thing you oughta learn, Prospect. The best place to hide is in plain sight," said Guntiver.

Lupe walked over to a wrecked speeder and inside it, was a keypad, and Lupe entered a code, which made the keypad glow green. Everyone then heard a loud creak as beneath some scrap metal, a door opened, which had been masked by the scrap metal.

"Everyone inside, quickly," said Lupe.

Tangle was in awe by what she was seeing before her as everyone walked past and entered the bunker. Lupe then turned back as the last person passed.

"Are you coming, Tangle?" she said.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'm coming," said Tangle.

Tangle then walked inside, and Lupe closed the door behind them, and the two of them followed the group down a long set of stairs, until they reached a large room.

"This was an idea of Sally's when we started coming together as a unified group. She and Sonic discovered this old bunker under all this scrap. She then gathered every Freedom Fighter leader in secret and told us that if anything went wrong in our homes, we could come here to hide until things resolved," said Lupe.

"Aye, and no records were to be made...and had to take an oath to secrecy even upon threats of death," said Bow.

"So each leader has their own code to open this place up, but we had to commit it to memory, as we could not risk this place's secrecy," said Dulcy.

"Look at all this! There's food in this storeroom!" said Thorn.

Cinder walked over and operated a faucet, and to her surprise, there was clean water.

"Look, look! Clean running water!" she said.

"Good thing we installed that filtration system in our water source," said Lupe.

"And look, man...beds," said Guru.

Reynard took a look, and began counting the beds.

"Senorita, there may be enough beds for only half of us," he said.

Lupe inspected the beds.

"You may be right, Reynard. This was never intended for such a large group. We may have to improvise," she said.

"We'll figure it out, mate. Everyone's gonna sleep here, one way or another," said Walt.

"Verily!" said Bow.

"Speakin' of...I'm ready to sleep in a real bed 'bout now," said Munch.

"Yes.." said Barby.

Bunker noticed Barby seemed to be paying very little attention to anyone, and was curious, but soon, Thorn approached her.

"Lady Bunker, might I ask you for assistance in preparing accommodations?" said Thorn.

"Of course, Thorn," said Bunker.

"We'll rest up tonight, and then tomorrow, we will discuss our next steps; you all have had long journeys, and need rest," said Lupe.

Everyone nodded in agreement as the night fell outside, leaving only a barely visible moon through the smog and cloud cover.


	12. Chapter 12: The Cries of Lost Souls

**Chapter 12: The Cries of Lost Souls**

Tangle woke up and checked the chronometer, and saw it was 0712 hours, and heard everyone gathering for breakfast in the mess hall. She leaped down from her somewhat cramped bunk-bed and started walking towards the mess hall, stretching her limbs and tail as she did. When she entered the mess hall, she saw all the Freedom Fighters gathered together at the tables. Tangle looked and found herself a seat in between Sonar and Spike.

"Morning, Tangle," said Spike.

"Morning, yourself, Spike," said Tangle.

"Li Moon, Bunker, Friar Buck, and Guru Emu have been busy with this meal, you gotta try out this stuff," said Sonar.

"Especially this tea, Li Moon says it's her old family recipe," said Spike.

"Sure!" said Tangle.

As Sonar served some food on Tangle's plate, Tangle noticed Lupe in the back of the room, sitting on a large hatch.

"What's Lupe doing? I haven't seen that hatch before," said Tangle.

"It was hidden behind some crates. She's been sitting there ever since she got up, it's like she's waiting for something," said Sonar.

"Or someone," said Bill Platypus.

Then, everyone heard knocking below the hatch, but it sounded like someone was knocking on different places of the hatch. Lupe then got up, and she pulled a lever, and the hatch began to open up. Lupe lifted it open, and grabbed a hand. She pulled the person up, revealing him to be a male Mobian Goat.

"Griff, I'm glad you could come on such short notice, my friend," said Lupe.

"No problem, Lupe. I'm glad to see you all made it in one piece," said Griff.

"Everyone, for those of you that haven't met him, this is Griff, Leader of the Lower Mobius Settlement, located deep beneath the city. He also helped us locate this bunker and provide much of the supplies and equipment you see here," said Lupe.

"For those of you I know; good to see you all again, and for those I don't know; great to have you with us," said Griff.

"Now, let's get down to business," said Lupe.

"If I may, Lupe?" said Li Moon.

"Go ahead, Li Moon," said Lupe.

"Bunker, myself, and Guru here have been going over our supplies, and we may only have enough to last us-"

"Three months, twenty-five days," said Guru.

"How can you be certain?" said Reynard.

"He's real good at math," said Wombat Stu.

"I'm never wrong about these things, dude," said Guru.

"Maybe less if we're careless," said Bunker.

"Unless we conceive a plan, this bunker will be our tomb, brothers & sisters," said Bow.

Lupe sat in her chair and rubbed her face in stress.

"Anyone have any ideas?"

Munch raised his hand.

"I got an idea, mate! We take the fight to those Imperials and hit 'em where it hurts! Like we always did!"

"Don't be a fool, these Imperials are far better equipped and organized compared to Robotnik and his armies, and I feel very cold and dark chi guiding them," said Bunker.

"Come on, don't let that mystical mumbo-jumbo fool you all! We can take these guys! We got the means and numbers to do it!" said Augustus.

"Yes, 'tis what our fallen friends would be wantin' us to do!" said Alan Quail.

"...Yes, they would," said Barby.

"That's recklessness! That'll get us killed!" said Thorn.

"And staying here praying someone happens to come along to rescue us is a better option?" said Jian.

"I agree with Thorn, our resources will deplete quicker if we try to fight. And we endanger our safety in this place if we keep attacking the Empire. If the Empire could find Knothole, they can surely find this place," said Friar Buck.

"Come on, don't get all worked up 'ere, mates! We got to use our heads for this!" said Walt Wallabee.

"That's not the issue here! If we don't retaliate against these Imperials, then all the people we've lost died for nothing!" said Reynard.

"Why, do you have a better plan, then?" said Munch.

"I am believing we should be diverting ze resources into escaping ze planet while we can," said Sealia.

"I am in agreement with Sister Sealia, why must we bring harm upon ourselves by fighting further when we can be finding safe haven?" said Bow.

"Yeah, right, the Empire will catch us trying to escape, we're all dead," said Erma.

"And besides, who are we gonna trust to get us off this planet in the first place? We got nothing to offer!" said Flip.

"That's besides the point!" said Bow.

The arguing got louder and louder, causing much distress amongst the few who were not talking, and Lupe simply groaned in annoyance, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, stood up from her seat.

"SILENCE!"

And sure enough, everyone did. Everyone slowly sat back down, and as soon as Lupe was satisfied with the situation, she sat back down and took another breath.

"Now...I know you all feel strongly about our options here, but the fact remains that we're in no position to attempt either, but that does not mean we should fight amongst ourselves over who's right. Our priority should be trying to survive this. Griff, what do you know about the fate of Sonic and the others from Knothole? Have you heard anything?"

"Well, Lupe, my scouts and gatherers in the city have been listening to the Imperials. One group overheard some troops talking about how Sonic and the others were captured."

"Captured?!" said Leeta & Lyco together.

"Yeah, but they also heard that they escaped. But to where, they didn't say, probably 'cause they don't know, which is a good thing," said Griff.

"Yes, if they indeed have escaped...they must be somewhere safe. And don't any of you speak to what some of you may think. We don't know if they're dead, until we know that for sure, we act as though they're alive," said Lupe.

"But where would they go? Who would take them in?" said Guntiver.

"What about that Raccoon and his associates? You know, the one who supplied us with all those weapons?" said Augustus.

"Jericho Raccoon? That's a possibility. It would also explain why we haven't heard from them since this ordeal started," said Dulcy.

"Would you know how Sonic & Sally contacted them?" said Wombat Stu.

"No. That information was stored in NICOLE, and we don't have her," said Dulcy.

"It also may explain why they've been arming and training us, they must have known eventually the Imperials were coming," said Lupe.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I heard the troops talking about some off-world underground resistance movement they've been fighting, the...Rebellion, or something. If Jericho Raccoon and his associates have Sonic, they must be hiding somewhere," said Griff.

"But where?" said Tangle.

"Probably one of the off-world colonies, likely Sapphyrus or Sol. Not Stell Viridius, that place is a mess," said Griff.

"Probably," said Lupe.

"So why not just call them?" said Spike.

"Oh, I didn't think of that! Why not send a transmission, have it detected by the Empire, and they hunt us down and kill us!" said Diablo.

"Diablo. Stop," said Lupe.

"Senorita, we can't do that! Even if we could, our communication equipment is not able to send interstellar transmissions! This was designed for planetary comms!" said Diablo.

Tangle thought for a moment and then excitedly raised her hand.

"There's an uplink tower across the river that's not too far from here!"

"That one near the water treatment plant?" said Dulcy.

"Yeah! That one!" said Tangle.

"Yeah...if we can tap into that uplink tower, we may be able to piggyback our signal off the ones transmitted, that way it'll mask it if anyone's listening," said Sonar.

"How do you know about that?" said Erma.

"I worked with a lot of communication equipment back home, I know a few things," said Sonar.

"But what if the Empire detects our signal? They'll be able to track it," said Friar Buck.

"Not if we can scramble it. Maybe if we can rig up some kind of scrambler, just in case, cause this signal was not intended for interstellar communication…now lemme see…what if…yeah, the city's transmission towers! If we can rig up some of them, we can use them to scramble our signal amongst the many local transmissions that they process. I...uh...I worked with a lot of communication equipment too, I learned a few tricks back home. It's got to work," said Flip.

"I think if we check our stock, we may have the right equipment we need for this," said Sonar.

"But we must be cautious, the cold chi is very strong here...we may wish to do this discreetly," said Bunker.

"Agreed. We'll divide into teams for this. I'll take Sonar, as well as Tangle, Bow, Spike, Jian, and Guntiver. Let me see… Dulcy, would you be willing to go with Flip on his mission?" said Lupe.

"You betcha, Lupe. I'll have Leeta, Lyco, Erma, Canus, Trevor Burrow, and Thorn come with me; the rest of you stay here and protect this place from anyone sniffing around," said Dulcy.

"Oh, come on, why do I have to play babysitter?" said Munch.

"Because we need the strong fighters to protect this place," said Lyco.

"Alright! Some real action! This is gonna be awesome!" said Tangle.

"I'll go with your group, Lupe. I know the quickest way to that tower," said Griff.

"Good idea, Griff. You do have first-hand knowledge of the sewers," said Lupe.

"Correct," said Griff.

"I'm starting to like this guy," said Tangle.

"Yeah, me too!" said Spike.

"Good. We'll start as soon as it's dark," said Lupe.

Sonic was running at full speed across the grassy fields of Sapphyrus, blowing seeds off the dandelions with the gust of wind he left in his wake. He then raced onto the runway at the base, before screeching to a stop.

"Nothing like a brisk 200 kilometer jog to start the day! Ah, it feels good to not have to smell Robuttnik's fumes," he said.

Sonic then saw Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor standing nearby looking at two large hills to the north of them.

"Ze hills over zere, Numbair 7 on ze right and Numbair 9 on ze right, zose were ze key spots during ze second battle," said Antoine.

"Ah can't even imagine what it was like," said Bunnie.

"I'm amazed those hills look green again after all that," said Rotor.

"Ashes can be ze nurturing to ze plant life," said Antoine.

"Ah can still see what's left of them craters over theah ...and over theah. Hey, wasn't Jericho's father on one of them hills during the battle?" Bunnie said.

"Oui, he commanded ze defense of Numbair 7, and Tails' fathair, Amadeus Prower, commanded ze defense of Numbair 9," said Antoine.

"I'm surprised you knew all that, Ant. Considering most of us weren't even born yet," said Sonic.

Antoine stuck his nose in the air.

"My fathair told me about ze battles of ze wars he served in. He had me read about zem. At least I know I can beat you in one thing; knowledge," he said.

"Really Ant? That's the best you got for me? And you say Tails' dad was on that hill?" said Sonic.

Sonic was pointing at Hill #7, which made Antoine facepalm and Bunnie giggle.

"Not zat hill, you imbecile, he was on the ze one on ze left, not ze right. If ze Raccoon saw you pointing at ze wrong one, he'd be breaking your legs," said Antoine.

Bunnie giggled again.

"Not funny, Bunnie! And Jericho'll have to catch me first!" said Sonic.

"You'll actually get a head start on that, Sonic. Tails was asking for you," said Rotor.

"Really? Why?" said Sonic.

Rotor pointed to one of the hangars.

"He's in that hangar, he's working on something he wanted you to see," said Rotor.

"Alright, be back in a flash!"

Sonic ran off towards the hangar, and Antoine continued his "history lesson". Sonic then walked into the hangar, which happened to be where the _Star Tornado_ was parked. Sonic looked around, seeing nothing but a few Loratus TC9 Hover Transports parked nearby.

"Tails? Yo, where you at, buddy?" said Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic! Over here!" said Tails.

Sonic turned and saw Tails flying atop one of the TC9s.

"There you are. I heard you wanted to show me something," said Sonic.

"These are TC9 Hover Transports, they're used as troop carriers by the Alliance. These four were in storage for future missions. I took a look at them and got an idea," said Tails.

"What kind of idea, Tails?"

"I thought that when we're out on a mission, we may need some ground transportation to take us places the _Star Tornado_ can't. Of course, the problem we always have is you prefer to run at your own pace. So I saw a bunch of these old decommissioned Derecho starfighters around the base, and I decided to improve the engines on these transports. With some work...I think we can keep up a good pace with you," said Tails.

"Tails, do we really need these?" said Sonic.

"Yeah! Besides, we're gonna need all kinds of equipment for our missions. One advantage about joining up with the Rebellion….we get access to cooler toys. Besides, I want to put my new tool set to use! They're at least in better shape than the ones I had back in Knothole… but I still miss my old Hydrospanner," said Tails.

Sonic looked around, and found a box that Tails failed to notice, and then opened it. When Tails turned to see it, he looked like he was in heaven, there was a hydrospanner, among a few other tools he didn't have yet.

"Aw, look at all of you...all clean...and needing to get your grips dirty...," said Tails.

Sonic simply rolled his eyes, but then he looked in the direction of the ammo bunkers on the far side of the base, noticing that one of them was covered by a fence and lasers. He started running towards it, and Tails noticed, flying after him.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" said Tails.

"This ammo bunker here...notice anything...unusual?" said Sonic.

Tails looked at the bunker.

"That's a lot of security for a few Proton Torpedoes, and what's with that power generator on the outside?" said Tails.

"Ammo bunkers don't need generators, do they?" said Sonic.

"They usually are connected to the power grid, but yeah, that's odd, especially with a fence around it," said Tails.

"Let's find out," said Sonic.

"I can fly us over the fence, those lasers won't reach us," said Tails.

"Good idea, let's move quickly and quietly," said Sonic.

Tails began flying, and took Sonic's hand, carrying him over the fence. They then went inside the bunker, and began walking down a dark ramp, noticing the lights were not functional. Tails turned on his flashlight and they looked around. They walked until they reached a blast door. Tails worked the control panel, and it opened to reveal a force field.

"That explains what the generator is powering," said Tails.

"A force field? The blast door isn't enough?" said Sonic.

But suddenly, out of the pitch-black darkness, several Robians appeared, growling like feral creatures. Sonic & Tails jumped in shock.

"GAAH! What the-?"

Tails cowered a bit behind Sonic, and he gasped. The Robians appeared to be unable to get through the Force Field as they pounded against it.

"Whoa...those are…."

"Robians… but what are they doing down here?" said Sonic.

"This is what we call 'The Pit of Lost Souls.'"

"GAAAH!"

Sonic jumped to see Jericho had appeared behind them, as if he'd teleported there.

"Firstly, you gotta stop doing that. Secondly, where did you come from? And thirdly...WHEN WERE YOU GONNA TELL US ABOUT THIS?!" said Sonic.

"You didn't ask before, did you?" said Jericho.

"I just did now!" said Sonic.

"I told Sally about it, but you'd rather go eat chili dogs than listen to stuff. This place is where we keep those who've been roboticized. It's basically a prison, but it's the humane thing to do for these people. We don't have your endless supply of Power Rings that only temporarily restore them, Sonic. And until we find a way to fix their minds or deroboticize them, we have to keep them down here, where they can do no harm," said Jericho.

"Aw, man, there's gotta be a way to deroboticize these people!" said Sonic.

"You got any ideas?" Jericho said.

Sonic & Tails were silent, which Jericho took as their answer.

"That's what I thought. Now let's go. The next guard shift will be here soon. We put a lot of effort to keep them from escaping," said Jericho.

Sonic and Tails sighed sadly, as they followed Jericho out of the bunker as a set of Rebel soldiers came to guard the bunker.

It was late at night in Robotropolis, and beneath the near-desolate city streets, Lupe was leading Tangle, Sonar, Spike, Jian, Bow, Guntiver, and Griff through the sewers. Spike and Sonar were barely able to breathe through the stench.

"Ugh...geeze, it stinks down here!" said Spike.

"I'll say!" said Sonar.

"That's normal...for this town anyway," said Lupe.

"How do you handle it?" said Spike.

"You get used to it after a while," said Tangle.

"May as well get used to it, this is gonna be our road for a while," said Griff.

"Aye, been in worse situations," said Bow.

"Me too," said Jian.

"Yeah, I've only been working with the Freedom Fighters for a few months now, and already I've been through some real action," said Tangle.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated, indeed, Tangle," said Griff.

"Yeah! Glad to see Sonic is a good judge of character," said Spike.

"Please, she's still a prospect. Personality doesn't mean much if we don't finish this mission," said Jian.

"Lady Jian speaketh the truth," said Bow.

"Hey, I can-"

"Hush," said Lupe.

The Freedom Fighters went silent, but Sonar jumped back when some sludge dropped down from a pipe on the ceiling.

"Ewww….I just bathed too," said Sonar.

They heard marching footsteps through the grates above them, and they knew what that was.

"Robian workforce. Probably en route to the factory district," said Lupe.

"We ran into some last night, I've never seen so many in one place," said Spike.

"It's like that in all the cities, Robians mindlessly working in the factories and mines, many a loved one was lost to the Roboticizer," said Lupe.

Griff peeked through the manhole, looking around, but he quickly lowered himself when he saw a patrol of Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots. The Freedom Fighters listened as they marched past them.

"Okay, this way is good! Come on!" said Griff.

Lupe climbed up after Griff.

"Come, the river is this way," she said.

"One at a time, hurry!" said Griff.

The Freedom Fighters climbed out, one by one, heading towards the path to the river, with Griff keeping an eye out. When the last person got out, Griff closed the manhole, and followed the group down to the river.

"Whoa...that's the Silvanus River?" said Jian.

"It looks calm, we could swim across," said Sonar.

"Oh no, you're not swimming in that stuff," said Tangle.

"Why not?" said Spike.

"Here, take a look at this."

Tangle grabbed a stick from off the ground, and stuck it in the water, and a loud hissing sound and steam emitted from the water, and when Tangle pulled it back out, the tip of the stick had effectively melted off. Spike, Sonar, and Jian felt their stomachs twist at the sight.

"You see that? You don't wanna know what that stuff does to you," said Tangle.

"We'll have to cross on these pipes, it's the only way across that doesn't involve dealing with those checkpoints on the bridges," said Lupe.

"Wait a sec...Lupe, look," said Griff.

Lupe and Griff looked closely at the pipes, seeing lots of water and condensation.

"The pipes are wet, probably from the rains and temperatures we've been having. We'll have to be extra careful and take it slow," said Lupe.

"Aye, everyone, line up, take hands," said Bow.

"And move slowly; baby steps," said Guntiver.

The Freedom Fighters took each others' hands with Lupe in the lead, and they slowly began walking onto the pipe, but felt their feet slide a bit on the wet pipe.

"Easy...no sudden movements, now," said Lupe.

The group slowly and carefully began crossing the pipe, trying not to look down. They felt sweat from their brows as they tried to keep their balance on the pipe. It was also hard to keep their feet from sliding a bit. Sonar slowly began to slip a bit and lose her balance, but felt Guntiver hold her in place. 

"Thanks!" she said.

"Don't mention it. And don't make too much noise, if they see us, we're sitting ducks," said Guntiver.

Suddenly, Spike slipped and began to stumble, he tried to regain his balance, but he slipped off the pipe and started to fall towards the river. He shut his eyes, but felt himself stop. He opened his eyes and saw he was just a foot from the river. He looked back up, and saw Tangle's tail had caught him.

"Whatever you do, do not shake!" said Tangle.

Spike nodded as the group continued on across the pipe, with Tangle carrying Spike. Sonar and Jian held on tightly to Tangle to help her keep her balance while carrying Spike. Soon, they reached the other side and began dropping down one by one. Tangle gently turned Spike upright again and placed him on the ground before dropping down herself.

"You saved me, thanks," Spike said.

"No prob! We're all in this together," said Tangle.

"We're almost there," said Lupe.

The group walked up from the river as the uplink tower loomed over them, with it's dish pointed at the sky. They began walking up a drainage ditch, eventually climbing up some steps. They then paused as they looked at the uplink tower above them.

"So, Sonar, where do we plant that device you have there?" said Jian.

Sonar pointed to the dish.

"There should be a junction box right on the dish assembly. This will ensure it bypasses the security protocols in the uplink's systems."

"So we need only get atop," said Bow.

"Won't be easy getting up there," said Lupe.

"I know how we can get up there fast," said Griff.

He pointed to a fire escape on a nearby building.

"Good idea, we can avoid dealing with the guards inside the tower," said Lupe.

Griff crouched down and Lupe walked up, allowing Griff to boost her up to grab the ladder and pull it down, allowing the Freedom Fighters to climb up the fire escape. They moved slowly as to not attract any attention. Soon, Lupe gestured them to stop.

"Something's coming!" she said.

The Freedom Fighters hugged the wall of the building, as a Hover Unit flew past them. Lupe then gestured Sonar to listen. Sonar's ears twitched back and forth, and she looked up as two TIE Fighters flew overhead. She then gave a thumbs-up to Lupe. Lupe nodded, and they continued climbing up to the rooftop of the building, which was still below the dish. Lupe looked up.

"We'll have to rappel the rest of the way. Ascension launchers."

The Freedom Fighters grabbed ascension launchers from their pockets and placed them on their blasters, except Bow, who simply latched the end of a wire to one of his arrows, and then attached a small grappling hook to the tip of the arrow. The Freedom Fighters took aim, and Lupe counted down.

"One ...two...three."

They fired their grappling hooks and they latched onto the ledge of the uplink tower's rooftop. They then leapt off and swung towards the tower, and then they began zipping up their lines towards the top of the uplink tower. When they reached the top, they climbed up the ledge.

"Ooh, we're way up high now," said Tangle.

"Indeed. Sonar, time to work that magic you said you were able to do," said Griff.

"Right away," said Sonar.

She walked towards a small junction box attached to the side of the dish's base, and she opened it up. She then produced her device and started working on wiring it to the box. Everyone else looked around for signs of trouble.

"Was it 'red, red, green,' or 'red, green, red'?" said Sonar.

"And she claims she's the communication expert?" said Jian.

"I heard that!" Sonar said.

Sonar worked hard, connecting several wires to her device, and when she turned her device on, it lit up.

"And...we're in business," said Sonar.

"Good. Assuming Flip was successful on his end, let's head back," said Lupe.

 _"YOU THERE! FREEZE!"_

They looked up and saw a Stormtrooper atop a building nearby. He took aim at them, and before the Freedom Fighters could fire back, they saw a blue shot snap above their heads and strike the trooper as a bolt of lightning struck in the distance. The trooper fell forwards over the ledge and fell to the alleys below. The Freedom Fighters looked around for the source of the shot. Tangle looked and saw a figure jump off another building and disappear.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"See what?" said Guntiver.

"There was someone on that building over there," Tangle said.

"I didn't see anyone," said Jian.

"Tis a good point of vantage for a shot, though. Twas that the 'Guardian Angel'?" said Bow.

"Maybe...maybe it was," said Lupe.

"Too bad we can't thank him, that was a close call," said Griff.

"We can't let the Empire know about this. Griff, can you go down and get rid of the body?" said Lupe.

"Sure. I'll dump him in the river, they won't find him again," said Griff.

"After that, you go back to Lower Mobius, we'll be okay on our own from here on," said Lupe.

"Alright. Take this datacard, it has a map of the sewers and underground that Sally gave me some time ago. And Lupe...good luck," said Griff.

"You too," said Lupe.

Griff then rappelled down off the tower to where the dead Stormtrooper was, while Lupe led the rest down another way.

"I just hope Flip succeeded," said Spike.

Back at the bunker, the Freedom Fighters regrouped with the rest of their group.

"How did it go, guys?" said Dulcy.

"Went smoothly, all things considered," said Lupe.

"What about you guys?" said Sonar.

"Piece of cake. Those guys were sloppy, they didn't pay much mind to a dragon and some others climbing atop the buildings and making a few adjustments to the transmitter towers," said Flip.

"Good work, now comes the next part," said Sonar.

Sonar and Flip then began working on the communicator, making sure everything was plugged in and it was powered up.

"I think we're ready, Lupe. What should we transmit?" Sonar said.

"One word: 'Haven,'" said Lupe.

"Haven?" said Sonar.

"Yes. If Sally or NICOLE is listening…they'll know what it means," said Lupe.

Sonar input the message and began to transmit. There was silence from everyone for a few minutes.

"Well?" said Leeta.

"Is it working?" said Lyco.

"We won't know for sure," said Sonar.

"Wait, what?" said Munch.

"It's working, but...we won't know if they got it or not," said Flip.

"Oh, come on! We run all over the city on a mere possibility they won't hear us?" said Augustus.

"It's a leap of faith, everyone. It's the kind of thing Sally would do if she were in this situation. I know you all want something fast, but for now...all we can do is wait, and hope for the best. We can survive for a while down here. I am weighing options as alternatives, but for now, this is the best thing we can do."

Everyone sighed and groaned in disappointment, but said nothing else. They all dispersed to various parts of the bunker. Lupe stood near the communicator, and placed her hand atop where her heart was.

"If you're out there, I know you'll come."


	13. Chapter 13: Haven

**Chapter 13: Haven**

Sally took aim with her target pistol, just as Sonic aimed his blaster pistol at the targets downrange. The two of them fired several shots, striking several of the targets. Sally looked impressed.

"You've improved, Sonic."

"Yeah well, it's all I've really had time for, except for jogs. I mean, I feel ready to take on an army of Stormtroopers or SWATBots, or both...but this is so frustrating, Sal! It's been nearly a month now, and we haven't seen any real action! I want to be out there, taking the fight to Robuttnik or the Empire! Sitting here on this rock isn't gonna get anything done!"

"Sonic, we've talked about this. If we're gonna win this, we need to let the wheels of war turn. The Rebellion knows what they're doing."

"She's right, you know," said Jericho.

Sonic and Sally turned to see Jericho and his squadmates getting in some target practice of their own. Jericho fired an A280 blaster rifle down range, hitting several of the targets with precision accuracy.

"Yeah well, doesn't mean I have to like it! I've been jogging 'round this planet several times a day and I'm getting bored of it!" said Sonic.

"Sapphyrus is a good home-away-from-home, Sonic. It's good to be somewhere where we don't have to worry about Robotnik for once, not him, not his pollution. This planet is a shining example of what Mobius will be again once we liberate it someday," said Sally.

"Whatever," said Sonic.

Terry was firing his A280 on the range, and when venting out the built-up heat, he saw Ross, who was next to him, checking an older weapon.

"Baldwin, why are you still using that old thing?"

"Why not? It's an R67C Blaster Rifle, one of the standard rifles for the Mobian Military back in the day, it works fine."

"Yet that thing is ancient compared to this thing. State-of-the-art equipment from the Rebellion."

"Those things are old too. Plus, they feel like children's toys in my hands. I'll stick with this."

"Yeah, but who used it last? Your grandfather?"

"It's a Mobius DefTech product, those things are invincible."

"Do you two plan to keep this old vs. new-school feud going on?"

Terry and Ross turned to look at Emil.

"Until this one learns some value, Lieutenant. Meanwhile, you're using one of those old Claymore Heavy Blasters," said Ross.

"Indeed," said Emil.

"Good taste, Lieutenant, those things are invincible. All the ones from 30-40 years ago are still working fine. It's a CryonTech Product after all," said Ross.

"Yes indeed, Chief. That's the beauty of Mobian equipment, even in old age, they cannot die," said Emil.

"Speaking of old-school, Natalia here is moreso than we are, you know. She uses that crossbow," said Ross.

Nearby, Natalia began placing crossbow bolts on the table, each one with a differently shaped tip.

"I still can't believe she uses that of all things, that kind of weapon is ancient. Bowcasters are the way to go," said Terry.

"You weren't complaining when she put one between the eyes of that guy on top of you back on Scarif, Ryback," said Kirk.

"Yeah, that's true...I didn't even heard it until…"

"After the guy was shot, Ryback," said Ross.

"Yeah, right. Stealth kills," said Terry.

Natalia loaded a single bolt into her crossbow, as Sally, curious, walked behind her to observe. Natalia fired it at a Stormtrooper dummy wearing armor, but it failed to penetrate very deeply.

"Oh come on."

She loaded another bolt and tried again, but it ricocheted off the armor. She hissed a bit, and loaded another one and tried yet again, the bolt failed to penetrate even the outer layer.

"OH COME ON!" she said.

She then loaded another bolt and tried again. This time, this one seemed to penetrate much deeper than the rest. She pushed the button to move the dummy target to her. She pulled the bolt off, and examined the tip, seeing it was one with four jagged expanding blades. She then stuck her finger in the hole, to examine how deeply it went in. She then looked at the bolt again and took a few notes.

"Interesting, using a weapon like that in this day and age," said Sally.

Natalia jumped and screamed at Sally suddenly speaking. She froze up, feeling like her tongue was too twisted to speak.

"Then again, we use whatever we can get, and sometimes the old things help us defeat the new things," said Sally.

"Um...y-y-yes…." said Natalia.

"I take it you've...had practice with it?" said Sally.

"Well, um...well ...I...I...I…"

"I think what Natalia's trying to say is that she's had years to refine her tools and technique, Sally. She's a hunter, therefore, she hunts, and does so quietly so the prey won't see it coming, so to speak. Isn't that right?" said Jericho.

Natalia quietly nodded.

"Yeah, a quiet approach allows you to even up the odds a bit so it turns against the enemy," said Geoffrey.

Geoffrey loaded one of the same bolts Natalia used into his wrist crossbow, and fired it at Natalia's target dummy.

"Yeah, well, quiet is for when something's at stake. Otherwise, if the odds are against you...you just make 'em go out with a bang," said Declan.

Declan shouldered his micro-grenade launcher and fired it downrange, destroying several practice dummies in the blast. Meanwhile, a Rebel Soldier approached Natalia and spoke to her as Jericho and Sally observed.

"Just don't be so focused on destruction that you accidentally destroy an objective, Declan," said Mitchell Turtle.

"Oh, relax, MC, I am an artist. I condition my art according to the canvas I must paint with explosives," said Declan.

"Aw, brother," said Terry.

"Good to see your squad is as sharp as ever, Jericho."

"They're good people, Sally. We'll be ready to help out any way we can."

"Good, because we're gonna need that."

"Um, excuse me, sir, you have a visitor waiting for you at the pad," said Natalia.

Jericho saw Natalia pointing towards the direction of the shuttle launchpad near the city.

"Did they say who it was?"

"Um...what was her name...uhh...Ariana...no, Adina? No, that's not it either…wait, Athena! Yes, Athena, that's it!" said Natalia.

"Really? Thank you, Natalia. I'll go there now," said Jericho.

Jericho walked away as Sally went to rejoin Sonic. Natalia was confused by Jericho's reaction, while the rest of the squad, minus Terry and Ross, seemed surprised.

"So, Athena's here," said Dayton.

"I thought she was still back home," said Declan.

"Evidently, not. Should we be worried?" said Mitchell.

"Nah, Athena's a good kid, she's not gonna do anything," said Emil.

"Uh, guys, something we oughta know?" said Ross.

"Yeah, who are we talking about? Friend of yours?" said Terry.

"Yeah, she is. Known her since before we joined up with the Rebellion," said Emil.

"Remember that woman from Scarif we fought? Tasha Spector?" said Dayton.

"That...that half-roboticized woman that Jericho fought? I remember she killed herself after you and him talked with her…why? What about her?" said Natalia.

"Athena, she's Tasha's daughter," said Dayton.

Natalia was stunned at those words.

"...Really?"

"Yeah, she's the same age as you and me. Like the LT said, she was our friend long before the Rebellion, you, Ryback, and Baldwin came on. She's a little...unusual, but she's good. I hope we get to see her soon," said Kirk.

"Yeah," said Dayton.

Jericho arrived at a docking bay only a short distance from the base, and saw crowds of people disembarking the shuttle, seeing all sorts of species, and then he saw a female Mobian Wasp wearing a hooded jacket with a stoic expression up against a doorway. He walked up and she noticed him.

"Athena."

"Jericho."

Athena's voice was almost deadpan, with only small bits of emotion that appeared to be discerned from her speaking voice.

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"Close to a half-hour now."

"What are you doing here?"

"Everything I own is in this bag here. I sold my mom's place, used it to pay a shuttle fare to make my way here to join up with you guys, you got a problem with that?"

Jericho saw Athena's bag, which was little more than a backpack with a few items sticking out of it.

"Join up? Athena, you know we're grateful for the things you've done for us, but-"

"Don't wanna hear it. I got nobody back home. You guys are all I got now that mom's gone. Mom may turn over on that improvised grave the Empire dug her on Scarif, but I don't care if she thought she was protecting me. You guys are the real family in my life."

"I guess it's pointless to argue with you, Athena. You'd rather spit on your mom's grave and do the exact thing she didn't want you to than do…whatever you do."

"You know me."

"We may have trained you a bit for fun in the past, but we gotta put you through the training and all that, which shouldn't be that hard for you if you remember the stuff we taught you."

"Been a while, but a good refresher will bring it all back."

"Good. Then let's go then."

"Copy that...sir."

Jericho picked up Athena's bag as the two of them set off together back to the base. When they arrived, they didn't encounter any of the squad members.

"It's late, probably out relaxing in the lounge. That's all right, though, you'll get to see them soon," said Jericho.

"I know," said Athena.

They walked into the barracks, and made their way upstairs to the bunks.

"We're just using these until we're ready to set off, then we'll move back to the _Salvation_."

"Alright, where do you want me?"

"Take that top one there, unload your stuff in that footlocker and come up to the lounge when you're ready. Take the elevator up to level five and follow the signs, you'll find it," said Jericho.

"Copy that," said Athena.

Jericho then left as Athena opened the footlocker for her bunk and began unloading her bag. Before long, Natalia came out of the refresher when she saw Athena, not realizing who she was.

"Um...hello there...what are you doing with my bunk?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, the lower one must be yours...I'm just taking this top one here, it was open," said Athena.

"Uhh...sure, I guess?" said Natalia.

Athena finished with the last of her things and shut her locker, and she then turned to Natalia, looking at her for the first time.

"Are you sure you're in the right place?"

"Um, yes?"

Athena squinted and looked closely at Natalia, noting her appearance.

"You look a bit...sweet. You just stand out a bit. I know everyone on Jericho's squad, but you I've never seen before, are you really a part of this?" said Athena.

"Yes, I am a recent addition, I've only been with the squad for a few months now. Um, my name's Natalia...Natalia Mydaus."

"Athena Spector."

"Wait...oh, so you're Athena. Jericho and some of the older squad members were talking about you when I told him you were here. But you're...not what I expected…"

"What did you expect?"

"I guess I didn't...and...I only just found out about your relationship with….your late mother, who...by the way, I saw die on Scarif."

"You didn't know her, obviously. So the less that is said about that coward, the better. I believe we're supposed to be somewhere."

Natalia felt a chill down her spine from Athena's stoic words as she tied her hair back.

"May I...walk you there?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm dying to see everyone."

Natalia put her shirt back on as she walked with Athena to the elevator and they took it up to level five, and they walked into the lounge. The rest of the squad was talking when the two women walked in.

"There she is," said Jericho.

"Hello, everyone," said Athena.

"Hey, Athena. Good to see you," said Dayton.

"Good to see you, girl," said Emil.

"Hey guys...it really is nice to see you all," said Athena.

"I see you met Natalia, good. We also picked up two more guys since we last saw you, Terry Ryback and Ross Baldwin, they're both transplants from other squads," said Jericho.

Athena took a look at Ross and Terry, standing by the bar. Terry looked at her and grinned.

"They look the part to me," said Athena.

"Hello…." said Terry.

Athena took little notice of Terry as she walked to the bar.

"Athena is formally a part of our squad after all these years. So we gotta whip her into shape and makes sure she's hasn't forgotten what we've taught her," said Jericho.

"Hey, we'll take any help we can get," said Ross.

"And her computer skills will be a big help, maybe take some of the load off me and the droids," said Kirk.

"You managed this long without me, Kirk, maybe you're getting sloppy," said Athena.

"Hardly sloppy, been keeping up on my slicing skills, Athena. I'll show you some of the stuff I picked up after dinner," said Kirk.

"Sounds good," said Athena.

The squad then gathered around the bar for a round of drinks and dinner, well into the night. Several hours later, Sonic was in his bed in a Laurent house guestroom, looking very lost in his dream as he slept away.

"Mmm…yes, Uncle Chuck...I'll have another chili dog...yeah...a whole platter sounds good to me….mmmm…."

Soon, NICOLE appeared next to Sonic's bed.

"Sonic?"

Sonic was awoken from his sleep and freaked out when he saw NICOLE standing next to his bed.

"GAH! NICOLE, I told you never to do that again!" he said.

"Apologies, Sonic. But we need you in the conference room. I have something important to share. Sally and the rest of the Rebel staff are present," said NICOLE.

"Okay...I'll be right down...I hope it's worth the loss of a good chili dog dream…" said Sonic.

Later, Sonic walked downstairs to the conference room, where he saw Sally, several Laurent-McCormick family members, and Jericho, Milena, Dayton, and Geoffrey gathered around a holoprojector, which NICOLE was using to display herself.

"Sorry we had to wake you up, Sonic. But NICOLE said it was important," said Sally.

"If it has to be at 0300 in the morning, Sal, it had better be worth it," said Sonic.

"NICOLE?" said Sally.

"Thank you, Sally. I was randomly going through some communication satellites that the Rebellion had tapped, looking for intel on that hull plating we recovered from that freighter. I was listening to communication signals when I came across something unusual broadcasting on the network. Listen,"

NICOLE began playing back the looped signal, which had no words.

"What is that?" said Soledad.

"Ah, too regular to be random interference," said David.

"Not to me it isn't. I recognized it immediately, it's an old planetary-based transmission signal that the Freedom Fighters used back on Mobius," said NICOLE.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it sounds familiar," said Jericho.

"NICOLE, boost the power by 19% and slow it down a bit, and decode it," said Sally.

"Processing. Stand by…..complete."

NICOLE then displayed the decoded message on the holoprojector, it was a single word.

"Haven?" said Soledad.

"What does that mean?" said Indigo, Jr.

"I know I've seen that before," said Geoffrey.

Sally became unresponsive for a minute, her mouth hanging open as she tried to sort through her thoughts, eventually smiling.

"Sonic, do you know what that is?"

"Yeah, Sal! That's the distress signal!"

"Our friends...the other Freedom Fighters...they're alive!" said Sally.

"Uhh...Princess, care to fill us in here?" said Soledad.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lady Soledad. Let me start over," said Sally.

"Yes, what does this mean?" said Saffron.

"About a year and a half ago, we found an old military bunker buried under the junk in Robotnik's junkyard in Robotropolis, and we realized it would make a perfect safehouse, since Robotnik doesn't pay much mind to it. I wanted to have a place that a displaced Freedom Fighter group could go, like if they got compromised and were forced out of their region. But we only told their individual leaders and had them swear to secrecy, to ensure if anyone got captured, they wouldn't know where it was. It would allow them to hide out until the heat died down and we could get them safely to Knothole," said Sally.

"It's true, Geoffrey & I helped stock the place with some weapons and ammunition for whoever was held up in there," said Jericho.

"And this signal, it's some kind of distress signal that they're holed up at this…safehouse?" said Soledad.

"Yes, they were to send this signal when they were safe inside the bunker. It was a signal NICOLE could pick up and decipher, it was an old signal nobody uses anymore, it's too slow by modern standards," said Sally.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We gotta go back to Mobius and get them!" said Sonic.

"Have you forgotten one thing, Sonic?" said Jericho.

"And what's that?" Sonic said.

"There's still a whole Imperial Force between us and them," said Jericho.

"Oh…right," said Sonic.

"Lady Soledad, is there anything we can do?" said Sally.

"I understand you want to help your friends, but it's risky. For one, after the destruction of the Death Star, we cannot afford to risk those kind of resources with what the Alliance is dealing with. Second, we're not doing what was done at Lothal, risking an assault, too many lives were lost for a victory that really didn't give us much. And lastly...how can you be certain your friends sent that? It could be a trap," said Soledad.

"Aye, the Imperials may be tuggin' at your heartstrings just to draw you out," said David.

"No, the Empire would have never discovered that. The Freedom Fighter leaders were told to commit that information to heart and memory, and they'd die or get roboticized before they talked," said Sally.

"Well that's just great. Our friends are suffering and trapped on a world full of people who want them dead or roboticized, and it's not like we can just waltz on down and just take 'em off world!"

Sally thought for a moment upon hearing Sonic's words. She thought hard until finally, something went off in her head, and she grinned.

"I have the old plan," she said.

"Whoa, I know what that means...what do you have in mind, Sal?" said Sonic.

"Well, you said it yourself, Lady Soledad, an assault is out of the question. So all that means is that we need to find a more covert approach," said Sally.

"That's true. Discretion may be a better choice here," said Soledad.

"If you're planning on smuggling them off world, you'll need a suitable vessel for the job," said Geoffrey.

"Yeah, in my experience, the Empire always assumes that we prefer fast and maneuverable vessels for escape, and tend to pay close attention to them. Also, I always see these ops run into issues with clearances and schedules, that kind of makes them stand out," said Jericho.

Sally thought for a moment, and then turned to Marquand.

"Mr. Marquand, how exactly do you get people off-world?" she said.

"Well, Princess, my fleet of merchant vessels regularly travels between Mobius and the colony worlds, among others. For people who want to get off world discreetly, we usually smuggle them aboard as new crewmembers, hide them among cargo, and we take them where they want, some want to join our cause, others just want a new beginning on other worlds. But this operation regularly gets my ships harassed by Imperial patrols," said Marquand.

"But it is do-able?" said Sally.

"Indeed," said Marquand.

"So what if...we tried smuggling them off-world on a scheduled vessel?" said Sally.

"What do you mean?" said Soledad.

"Well, you heard Jericho, if we try slipping in with say, the _Star Tornado_ , we'll already raise suspicion on the fact we're not supposed to be there in the first place, so we hide in plain sight," said Sally.

"You're suggesting we approach one of the civilian transport crews?" said Soledad.

"Why not just hijack one of the Imperials' vessels?" said Sonic.

"Cause that would require sourcing a human crew for it, and we don't have that kind of time," said Jericho.

"So that means we use a civilian vessel. Won't raise too many questions about crew, since they could come from anywhere...Mr. Marquand, how often do supply convoys come and go from Mobius?" said Sally.

"Maybe once every week or so, why?" said Marquand.

"Get me a list of some of the regular vessels in those convoys...I need to brainstorm here," said Sally.

"Of course, Princess," said Marquand.

"Okay, I guess we're doing this, then," said Nora.

"Alright, let's get strategizing," said Jericho.

"Sonic could you go bring our friends up to speed? No pun intended," said Sally.

"I can do that in a Sonic second, Sal!" said Sonic.

"I'll go brief the rest of the team," said Dayton.

"I'll go put on some coffee, we're gonna need it," said Milena.


End file.
